As Luck Would Have It
by Dark Pirate Nellie
Summary: 3rd story to "The Luckiest" series. AU, Bellamort. With growing concern over the war and the safety of Lilith, Bellatrix and Voldemort strive to understand the prophecy involving them, only to find out that it might not mean what they originally thought.
1. Chapter 1

**First chapter! Excited?**

**If you didn't see in the summary, this is the third installment in my Bellamort series. If you have not read the first two stories ("The Luckiest" and "Unlucky"), then I suggest you read them before continuing any further.**

**The majority of people wanted Lilith to be a little bit older at the start of this story, so even though I originally planned for her to be no older than half a year old, Lilith is 10 months old at this point. :) As many of you will agree, there is no reason to pad the beginning with fluff. This first chapter will be a little bit fluffy, but after that, it'll really jump right into the plot. :) And of course, this chapter will introduce the new Lupin child! :)**

**Enjoy!**

Dark Princess Lilith Abella was not unlucky, not in any way.

In fact, Lilith had a wonderful life. She was just about perfect in every way. It was already clear that she had inherited her mother's dark beauty, with her wide dark eyes with dark thick lashes, her moonlight-pale skin, and rosy lips. Lilith, despite being less than a year old, already had a full head of thick, dark, shiny, and extremely curly hair. Anyone could tell that she was going to grow up to be a copy of her mum. She was talented, already showing signs of powerful magic, and smart, speaking her first words and taking her first steps fairly early for a ten-month-old little girl.

Lilith had just about what any little girl could possibly want. She had a big house to live in and beautiful clothes to wear. She had fun toys to play with and huge grounds to play with them on. The property on which she lived had a beach, a field with wildflowers, a pond, and a forest with a stream big enough to swim in.

Of course, Lilith was not yet old enough to do any of these things by herself, but she didn't need to worry, for she also had many people who were willing to give her all their time to help her do those things. Her cousin and godfather was very much like an uncle to her, and he was always concerned and overprotective of her. If Lilith ever needed someone to hug, Draco would be there in a flash to do it. He was completely devoted to the 10-month-old baby, and his care did not go unrewarded. Just two weeks ago, Lilith's had spoken her very first word: "Draco."

Lilith's other cousin, Tonks was also great fun. If Tonks couldn't make her laugh, then nobody could. Tonks, however, had Metamorphagus abilities on her side. She could change her appearance at will, including switching out her features for animals'.

Perhaps Lilith's best friend in the world was Tonks' son, Teddy Remus Lupin. Less than a month apart in age, these two did everything together. When he realized that Lilith could not yet stand on her own, Teddy refused to do so himself until she learned how. They had taken their very first steps together, hand in hand, and Tonks was dismayed when she found out that she missed it, for at that moment she had been giving birth to her second child.

The new baby was adorable. Tonks' and Remus' new child had inherited Tonks' Metamorphagus powers as Teddy had. Just like the Lupins' son, Andrea Isadora Lupin's eyes and hair had changed color at least five times in her first moments of life. Although Andrea was only one month old, and pretty much unable to do anything other than cry, eat, and sleep, but Lilith had immediately fallen head over heels in love with her youngest second cousin. Andrea seemed to return the affection. She would cease to cry whenever she spotted Lilith.

So far, from the description of Lilith's relatives, she had a fairly normal family for a young witch. However, this could not be more misleading. Why? Because she was incredibly rich and fortunate? No. Because even though she was absolutely perfect, she had no brothers or sisters to call her own? Not at all. Because she was best friends with a boy whose godfather was the sworn worst enemy of her own godfather? Not quite. Lilith's family was abnormal because her parents happened to be the most powerful wizard and witch in the entire world, the world that they soon hoped to call their own. From the moment Lilith was born, she had been thrown into the beautiful world of magic and mystery: the Dark Arts. That's right, Lilith's father was the Dark Lord himself, Lord Voldemort, a man so powerful that nearly every man and woman were afraid to speak his name, even his most loyal followers. And yet, even with the cold hard shell that he had created for himself, Voldemort had a soft spot for his daughter, despite the fact that he originally had wanted a son. In his eyes, she could do nothing wrong, and although not even his own wife had heard him ever say that he loved his baby girl, it was evident to those close to him that he cared for her, possibly very deeply. Voldemort did not interact with Lilith in the same way that the rest of the family did. Yes, he spent time with her, but he seldom spoke to her, and he never played with her. In fact, Voldemort was with Lilith mostly when she was sleeping. He liked to watch her as she was peaceful, and it seemed that he liked to reflect in these moments. Still, in rare moments, one could catch the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly as she waved her hands, or tried to walk, or babbled out a long string of baby-nonsense. But the Dark Lord was certainly not famous for smiling, and did not tend to do so except for when he got his way, or found something amusing. No, Voldemort saved his real smiles, smiles for when he was truly happy for two people, Lilith and his wife.

The Dark Lady. Nearly as powerful as Lord Voldemort himself, greatly respected by Death Eaters, and greatly feared by the "Light Side." Once beautiful and dangerous, and then ruined by Azkaban, only to be risen to a new level of beauty and power by Voldemort himself, the Dark Lady was both mysterious and intimidating, and her soft side was reserved for a select few. And who was the Dark Lady? Well, that would be Lady Bellatrix nee Black. Me.

I prided myself as Lilith's main mentor, at least for now. Voldemort will most likely give her most of her magical education, but I taught Lilith to do all the basics. I spoke to her very often, and quite frequently about Draco, I might add, so the word was certainly very familiar to her when it issued itself from her lips for the first time. Soon after, I taught her "mother" and "father," although they sounded more like "muddah" and "faddah" at first, as well as "Teddy" ("Eddeh") and surprisingly, "pureblood," quite accidentally, in fact, though I was extremely pleased nonetheless.

I helped her stand for the first time, and Teddy and Lilith took their first steps right into my own arms. Soon, I hope they will be walking on their own (or hand in hand, but same idea), and I will definitely be there to scoop Lilith up into my arms immediately afterwards, Tonks doing the same with Teddy beside me.

I had never cared so deeply for any person in my life, except perhaps the Dark Lord, but that was an entirely different feeling. Lilith was my daughter, and I loved her with every bit of my heart, and sometimes that was scary to think about. Maybe Lilith needed me to eat, to get into her crib, to change her diapers, and help her through every day, but in reality, I was completely dependent on Lilith. And however scary that thought was, I was thrilled.

Of course, Voldemort and I still had to track down the remaining two Deathly Hallows in about a year, as the prophecy stated, or we could very well lose the war in the wizarding world. But one year was plenty of time, and we had some leads. We wouldn't allow such worries to spoil the best time of our lives.

Yes, as luck would have it, Lilith, Voldemort, and I were completely happy. But as luck would have it, life moves fast, and good fortune doesn't always last.

**Oooooooh. Scared. Yes, I do realize that this was mainly a recap without even an ounce of dialogue, but you have been introduced to Andrea :) Besides, I didn't want to jump right into the action of the story. You'll see. The next chapter is EXTREMELY high action :O**

**I hope you're already interested in the new story :) If you review, I promise a quick update :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait! This chapter took a bit longer than I expected!**

Sighing, finally hearing the familiar clicks of my heels across the wet stone, and breathing in the freshness of the post-rain air, a shot a grin to the seemingly unfamiliar man beside me. He smirked back at me, dark hair waving in the wind and green eyes twinkling in victory. Voldemort and I had managed to hoodwink all of Diagon Alley into thinking that we were just the average pureblooded family, doing some shopping for their young child. What they didn't know is that we were really the Dark Lord and Dark Lady. And the reason that we were disguised was because we had the Dark Princess with us, a child that the rest of the world didn't even know existed. At some point, we would make Lilith known to the world, in fact, we planned to do it for her upcoming first birthday, but we wanted to keep her off the radar for now, completely out of danger for now.

We hadn't done exactly the best job of disguising ourselves, but it was definitely sufficient for our purposes. From under Voldemort's hood, I could see slightly darkened skin, a human nose that was on the slender side, sparkling emerald eyes, and a head full of dark hair. From the distant memories that I had, he slightly resembled what he looked like before his magical transformation into Lord Voldemort. He was fairly normal looking, but still quite attractive.

A glance at a reflective store window made me snicker for about the third time so far. I looked somewhat like Narcissa, with blue eyes, long straight blonde hair, a shorter nose, and paler skin. Something seemed off, about me, like I looked too innocent and delicate for my haughty stance, and I tried to walk a bit more like my sister. It took a lot of concentration to lower my head, stop swaying my hips, and wipe the smirk off of my face.

I halted behind Voldemort as he examined the different things on display in the window. There were many children's toys, but they really looked like they were for older kids, not toddlers.

"Let's keep going," I suggested. "I know there's another one around here.

We continued to walk down the mostly deserted road. Not many people went out anymore, not as we'd been gaining more control. As power shifted away from the "light" side to us, there was a new unbalance to the world. It would even out eventually, but for now, mudbloods were getting a taste of what they were asking for and purebloods were finally tasting the new power they deserved.

"Wait out here. I think I see the perfect thing," Voldemort hissed. I turned my attention to the toys in the window as Lilith's eyes followed her father into the shop.

"Now, now, no peeking," I ordered teasingly. "Your father's gone in to get the last of your birthday presents." Lilith's birthday was in two weeks, and we'd bought her a new wardrobe for her rapidly lengthening body, but had had trouble with finding toys she would enjoy.

A moment later, he emerged from the doorway, tucking a small parcel into his robes.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Almost. We have to shop around Borgin and Burkes first, remember?"

I nodded, recalling the fact that we would be looking for the Resurrection Stone, now knowing the general size and shape after much research. And there was always the off-chance that we'd stumble across the Invisibility Cloak.

"This cold weather better not ruin our plans," he grumbled. We'd been having some cold, stormy weather for the past few days, unnatural weather for this time of the year, and Voldemort had been complaining about it, how it better not spoil the plans for some raids he'd been working on for a while.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled, and not from the cold, and not from the thought of a failed raid. I felt as if I was being watched.

If I had an ounce of common sense, that common sense told me that the last thing you want to do when you are being watched is to let your observers know that you are knowledgeable of their presence.

I faked a cough into my left arm, seeing nothing, and then I turned my head to the right, under the pretense of looking into another store window. Nothing.

We were coming to a corner, and I peered into the glass now directly in front of me. The only people nearby were two men, perhaps ten feet behind us, and they seemed to be in deep conversation.

Resisting the urge to squeeze Lilith tightly, I forced myself to shake off my feelings of apprehension.

We walked along the twisting paths of the two alleys in silence, and every now and then, I had to shake off the irrational fear once more.

Chills ran down my spine again, and unable to resist, I pretended to stumble over a bump in the path. As I "regained my balance," I looked in the direction of the spot where I had "tripped," but my eyes were looking up. The men were still behind us, and they were closer. They weren't chatting anymore, either. They were staring intensely ahead. I knew something was wrong.

"Voldemort," I breathed. "Don't look right away, but there are two men that are following us.

He nodded curtly, and stared straight ahead, nodding as if in agreement a few times. He turned his head, seemingly to look at me or talk to me, but his eyes glanced backwards, widening ever so slightly before focusing back on mine.

"Well? What do we do?"

"Nothing," he responded. "They're not following us. Just come a bit closer."

I did so eagerly, but I could not help my eyes from glancing back once more.

"How can you say they're not? They obviously are!"

"They are not," he stubbornly argued, not even looking back again.

"Look at them, they're right on our tail!"

"Bellatrix, _shut up_. Nothing is going on."

"We have to do something."

"There's nothing. They're not after us. Just be quiet and stop panicking."

"Stop panicking? Just admit it, they're-"

"_Sectumsempra!_" one man shouted.

I whipped around to see that Voldemort had been prepared, despite his protests. His wand was out, and he'd already injured the man who shot the curse.

However, the light was still traveling towards me, and I had lost my balance with the shock of the sudden attack. I turned, attempting to shield Lilith from this curse that was unknown to me, and tried to duck out of the way. I screamed as an invisible knife ripped itself across my back, tearing my skin from my tailbone to my shoulder. A sudden shriek from Lilith told me that the curse had hit her too. My heart jumped into my throat, and all my own feelings of pain numbed as I slowly turned my head to look at my baby girl. Thankfully, her cuts were not as bad as my own. They were short and shallow, across her pale arms and just a small scrape on her cheek. As they were not fatal, I had no time to heal them. As soon as I whipped my wand out, it was trained to the men, and I kicked my ridiculous heels off, not carign to break an ankle in my already weakened state.

The second man shot a stunning spell at me, but I blocked it easily. Beside me, Voldemort in turn stunned the first man, and finished him off with ease, but at that moment, two more men raced around the corner, wands out and pointed at us. One of these men yelled, "_Incarcerous!_" and tight ropes wound around me.

_Incendio,_ I thought to my self repeatedly, burning the ropes that bound Lilith and me. A stinging jinx flew at me, and if I had turned just a split second later, that would have hit Lilith, too.

I cried ou in pain, but I turned around, knowing that the fight was not over. Voldemort had killed another of the men, but two were still alive and unharmed. One of them shot a stunning spell at me, but this time I was prepared and I neatly blocked it, sending a burst of green light at his chest. I whooped in victory as he crumpled to the ground, but cut off as I felt something pressed to my neck.

"If anyone moves, she's dead," he said in a menacing growl. Where was Voldemort? I couldn't see him, but I didn't dare turn my head. All of the sudden, however, the wand was away from my throat, but the result was far more chilling.

"What? Thought I'd play nice, _Bellatrix_? If you dare move, this child dies," he leered at me, his rotting yellow teeth looming in my face, and his slick shiny wand directly over my baby's heart.

"Leave her out of it. Leave Lilith out of it, you sick bastard, she's a baby!"

"Lilith, is it? Sweet little Lilith, what an absolutely revolting name. Really Bellatrix, I thought you'd have better tastes," he taunted.

"That's my Lady to you," I growled."

"Well, _my Lady, _you and your hubby didn't exactly have that mentality with poor Harry Potter, did you? No, I think your child's life has reached its end."

"No! No, don't do it! I'll kill you! You can't!"

A sick smile was plastered to his face. "Can't I? Say goodbye."

"No!" I cried.

"_Avada kedavra!_" I let out a sob as I held Lilith to me and the horrid man's body crumpled to the ground. Voldemort grasped my hand and pulled me up as I kissed Lilith in relief.

"I think it's time to go home," he said, and I nodded in agreement as he took the sobbing child from my arms, put his arm around my heaving shoulders, and Apparated us away from the horrible scene. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Did everyone enjoy the suspense of the last chapter? :) Review please. You will be rewarded.**

I nearly collapsed as we Apparated back to the mansion, and Voldemort had to catch me with his free arm to stop me from falling. As soon as we were close enough to the bed, I fell down, face first onto it.

"Those are bad cuts," he said, tracing the deep slashes in my back gently with his smallest finger. "I can't fix them; I'm going to get Narcissa." With that, he twirled away in a hurry, after placing Lilith on the bed in front of me.

"Poor thing," I murmured. The wounds on my back were painful, but they were not the worst injuries I'd ever been through. Lilith, however, was just a baby, not even one years old. She had never felt that sort of pain before.

"Here. Come here, Lilith," I said softly. She crawled over to me, and tears were still leaking from the corners of her eyes, although she was no longer sobbing.

"You're okay, I promise, Lilith. Now hold still, I'm going to fix the cuts." However, when I pulled out my wand from my dress and held it up, she began to scream and she tried to crawl away. She was scared of the wand.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Lilith, hold still!" She wouldn't, so sighing, I put my wand back in my pocket and held her, making her calm.

"Okay, that's not going to work. You stay right there," I ordered. With great effort, I pushed myself off the bed and limped over to the dresser. I opened a drawer, frowning, and closed it, opening the one below it, and shuffling all the various bottles and objects around, until I fould a small brown glass bottle with a fair amount of liquid inside.

"It's dittany, dear," I said, stifling a gasp of pain as I collapsed onto the bed beside her. "It'll heal your cuts. It's going to sting for a moment, but then you'll feel all better," I warned, dropping a few spots of the healing potion onto the little red lines on her skin. Lilith let out a cry as the dittany touched her injuries, but stopped crying altogether a few moments later, right as Narcissa and Voldemort Apparated right into the room.

"Bellatrix!" Narcissa cried, running towards me as she saw the bottle. "You didn't use that, did you? Your cuts are too deep! Dittany would only do damage, and I can't believe-"

"Cissy. I may not be as smart as you, but I do have _some_ common sense. I used it on Lilith, that's all. Her cuts were very shallow."

"Oh," she said softly, and my eyes fluttered shut in exhaustion.

"Do something, quick," said Voldemort. "She's lost a lot of blood."

"I'm fine," I insisted, although I didn't feel like it.

"Of course," Narcissa responded to neither statement in particular. There was a tingling sensation as she replenished my blood supply with a simple spell. Next, my brow furrowed and I let out a growl in pain as I felt my muscles and veins sew themselves back together.

"_Episky_," I heard as the pain subsided, and I knew that the surface of my skin was now healing.

I took a deep breath, and this time it was Voldemort who vanished the blood from my skin and repaired the tears in my dress.

It was just then that I realized that Lilith had been sobbing uncontrollably for the whole time. "Is she okay?" asked Narcissa skeptically, as if I had possibly administered the dittany incorrectly, or hurt her in some other way during the process.

"She's not hurt," I retorted, finally sitting up painlessly, and holding Lilith, letting her cry into my shoulder. "She's scared."

"Scared?" Voldemort questioned. "We're far away from Diagon Alley. Why is she scared?"

"It's our wands. She's scared of wands, because the men hurt her and me with them."

"But doesn't she know that we just _healed _you with our wands?"

"I don't know," I said, "But I wouldn't worry about it. Let her be scared for now. In a while, the fear will fade, and she'll be back to her normal self."

"Okay," Narcissa said hesitantly. "But you're sure she's not in pain?"

"Lilith, are you hurt at all?" She shook her head. "She's always truthful about that. She's definitely not in pain.

"What I'd like to know, though, is who are those men, and how did they know who we were?"

"You didn't recognize them?" Voldemort questioned.

"No. And I assume you didn't either."

"One of them seemed familiar, but I cannot place who he is or how I knew him."

I turned towards Narcissa. "You always go to all your social events and parties." She blushed at those words. "Maybe you'll know them from one of your parties, Cissy."

"Perhaps I would have, but I can't see the men you saw, unless we Apparate to their dead bodies in Diagon Alley. I have a feeling that that isn't the best idea."

"A pensieve," replied Voldemort. "We have a pensieve, and we can show you our memories."

"You should do it," I commented helpfully. "I was too focused on Lilith's and my injuries to get a good look at two of them."

"Follow me," was his reply, and we walked down the long hallway to one of the many unused rooms in our house. In the corner, there was a large, very old cabinet. With a wave of his wand, Voldemort caused the lock to turn, and the rusty hinges squeaked as the doors swung open, and the bowl-like object floated gracefully to us.

Voldemort had already drawn his wand, making Lilith cry, so I pulled out my own, and conjured a crib, placing her gently in it.

"If she's that affected by just seeing wands, she'll be terrified to watch the battle again. It's better if she just stays here," I explained.

"That's probably for the best," Voldemort agreed, drawing out a short silver strand from his mind. It floated down gently, landing in the smooth surface of the pensieve, before turning black and dripping down, forming the shops of Diagon Alley below.

"Ready?" Voldemort asked, and with a curt nod from me and a soft "yes" from Narcissa, he gripped our hands in each of his own, and we dived into the memory of the attack.

It took a lot of effort for me not to wince as I relived my injuries. Instead, I tried to study the men closely. I did not strongly recognize any of them. Two were vaguely familiar, but that was about all. I had no idea who they were, where they had come from, or how they knew who we were. I was just as clueless as before.

We emerged from the memory, into the room where we could again hear Lilith's delicate cries, and Voldemort walked over to her, scooping her into his arms, and shushing her firmly. "Stop your crying. We're here, and nobody is going to hurt you."

"Did either of you recognize them?" I said.

Voldemort shook his head, but Narcissa stated, "Yes."

"Who were they? Do you know how they knew it was us?"

"They were from the Ministry. Lucius pointed them out to me once. I don't remember their names, but he told me about them. They're all pureblooded blood traitors, and they were extremely close friends. The Ministry could never convict them, because they were purebloods, and they had never actively fought us before, even though they had openly declared their beliefs in blood equality. But Lucius said that they are average on every level. They were only mediocre wizards, and I can't imagine how they knew who you were."

We stood in silence for a moment. "Thanks, Narcissa," I said. "At least we know where they come from. I'm sure that if we watch the memory some more, we'll catch some more clues as to how they found us."

"Does anybody know about Lilith?"

"No," responded Voldemort. "The place where we fought was completely empty. Nobody saw us."

"Good. Well, I suppose I should leave you now. Just... be careful, Bella," Narcissa pleaded. "I'm scared that they found you so easily. Just please, watch you back."

"I promise, Cissy." She gave a hesitant nod before she bid us goodbye and Disapparated.

As soon as Narcissa was gone, I turned on Voldemort. "Why did you do that?" I demanded. "I knew those men were following us, and you denied it, even though you knew as well. Why did you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow, and I clenched my fists, fuming.

"No, it isn't, so would you care to explain?" I growled through my teeth.

"If we had simply Disapparated, we would have confirmed our identities to the men following us, and then the whole world would know about Lilith, something that we agreed wouldn't happen until her first birthday."

"But you denied-"

"Of course I did," he admitted, cleanly cutting me off. "If I had agreed, you might have taken action. I was hoping that we could get safely into a shop, pretend to look around, and then Disapparate from there."

I looked at my toes, hating myself for doubting him. Of course he had known what he was doing. "Oh."

"Your baby wants you," he said, neatly changing the topic and indirectly indicating that all was forgiven. Lilith was handed over to me, and she stopped her squirming.

"All in good time," I told her, Voldmort smirking at my words, "the whole world will know how great you are, doll, and you won't need to hide any longer. You'll be famous."

**Ooooooooh excited? Want to know how those Ministry jerks found out about Bella and Voldy? All in good time. The next chapter will SHOCK you. Are you ready for it?**

**Review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**If you see this chapter, you have reviewed sufficiently, and you are being rewarded for it.**

"Happy Birthday, Lilith!" I sang, and Voldemort smirked, though he gave her an affectionate pat on the arm. Lilith was now a whole year old, and it was amazing how quickly the time had passed.

She giggled, and I placed a small bouquet of flowers in front of her. This morning she would receive her presents, and this afternoon she would get her own little cake, although I had the feeling that as with most one-year-olds, more of the cake would end up on her face than in her mouth.

Lilith picked up the blossom, and I expected her to have it float above her hand, or make the petals open and close, two things that she had previously loved to do. But Lilith was scared. She was frightened by magic; the whole experience at Diagon Alley had left deep emotional scars that were taking a long time to heal. She only smelled the flower, and twirled it by the stem between her fingers. I couldn't help smile at her sweetness, despite the disappointment.

We were interrupted by a sharp tapping at the window.

"An owl," I said. "I'll get it." I opened the window, and the fluffy creature held out its leg. I counted coins into the small bag attached to it, and he stuck out his opposite limb, allowing me to free the newspaper attached to it.

I grinned as I unfolded it, absolutely delighted at the first page.

"Did we make the cover?" Voldemort questioned.

"Yes," I breathed. "Yes. Lilith, you're a celebrity now!" Lilith giggled, despite the fact that she probably didn't know what a celebrity was.

"Hm, very nice. Yes, _very _nice." Voldemort looked up. "We couldn't have asked for better, Bella." I sat beside him to read the first page of the _Prophet._

_The Dark Lord and Lady have revealed some shocking information to the rest of the wizarding world. They have a one year old child._

_"Her name is Lilith," they wrote in a letter addressed to us that thoroughly described their daughter. To read this letter, see section B2._

_The world was taken by surprise at this statement. The Dark Lady's pregnancy was well hidden and unknown to anyone outside the Death Eaters. In fact, any suggested rumors were disbanded, as She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was spotted in public multiple times during what would have been the time of her pregnancy. The letter explains: "We didn't want the outside world to know. It was our secret, and we enjoyed keeping it. [The Dark Lady] asked a close friend if she would go out in public, disguised with Polyjuice Potion to dispel any rumors."_

_The Dark couple's young daughter's birthday is today, the one year anniversary of the Battle at Hogwarts, a battle The Dark Lady insists that she fought in._

_Two member of the secret society _Order of the Phoenix_, now incarcerated in Azkaban, were available for comment._

_"Yeah, we fought her in the battle," says Stephan Kinlaw, 42. "She killed our mate, Brent [Gallagher]. We didn't know she was pregnant. Me eyes ain't too good, and it was dark, so I suppose I didn't notice."_

_"She's fast. She can move fast," says Kinlaw's partner-in-crime, Dennis Steele, 35. "We chased her after she killed Brent, and she ran really quickly. Looking back on it, she did seem a bit different. She looked a bit panicked, and anyone who's fought her knows that she's not afraid of anything. And I guess she wasn't moving quite right, now that I think about it. She was moving awkwardly, and even though she was fast, she wasn't quite up to her usual speed."_

_"But she didn't seem weak at all," Kinlaw adds in. "She fought us really strong, and she ran quite a long way for a lady who's about to give birth."_

_"I'm just thinking that it's probably safer for us here in Azkaban," comments Steele with a shiver. "If that's what she's like when she's about to go into labor, I don't want to face her wrath when she's at the top of her game."_

_The letter sent by the Dark Lord and the Dark Lady says, "Dark Princess Lilith Abella was born at the Battle of Hogwarts itself, which is the reason [the Dark Lord] was called away so suddenly. His child is certainly more important than Harry Potter._

_"Lilith is already incredibly powerful. She may already be more powerful than Harry Potter himself. She performs endless wandless magic on her own, despite the fact she is merely one years old." The letter goes on to describe that Lilith doesn't even do accidental magic. The child has incredible control over her powers. She can make the petals of a flower open and close, she has sprung open an owl's cage, she can levitate objects and bring them to herself, and she has even caused doors to powerfully slam open or shut, all without a wand._

_"I imagine she'll be a huge asset for our side. She'll make an incredible Death Eater some day. I have no doubts we will win," says an unnamed Death Eater who has supposedly met the child in person._

_To learn more about this incredible child, turn to page A3._

_For more on the Dark Lord and the Dark Lady, turn to page B7._

"Wonderful," I said, grinning.

"I don't think we could have asked for better," smirked Voldemort, clearly amused by the article. He flipped through the newspaper. "We're on practically every page."

I glanced at the cover again, smiling at the picture of our family on the front, which we had sent in with the letter to _The Daily Prophet_. We all looked especially haughty and powerful, even Lilith, who in the picture, had a blossom floating in her hand.

"Well, darling," I said to Lilith, "I think it's time for your presents, don't you?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Yes! Pwesents!"

Lilith couldn't unwrap them herself, so Voldemort and I took turns unpacking each parcel. I was extremely pleased with her reaction to her presents. Not many children get excited about clothing, but Lilith squealed happily at every pretty dress she was given.

"Okay, Lilith, this is the last one," I informed her. I tore off the wrapping to reveal a slender, long box. I removed the lid, and took out Lilith's new toy wand. It was incapable of anything but harmless spells, its specialties being flowers and birds. I knew Lilith was smart, but I also knew that one-year-old children should not be trusted with real wands.

Not that Lilith wanted a real wand. Even at the sight of her toy wand, she began to sob uncontrollably.

"No, Lilith," I tried desperately, "It can't hurt you. I promise-look-Lilith, it does good things. Flowers!" Lilith just cried harder, tears flowing like raindrops from the sky.

"Perhaps we should save this for another time," said Voldemort. Sighing, I placed the wand back in its box as Voldemort plucked Lilith out of her chair and held her silently.

But right as Lilith was about to calm down, something scared us all.

There was a sharp crack, and a dark figure whirled around right in front of us. Somehow this person had gotten around the anti-Apparation wards.

The hood was thrown down to reveal a sharp, pointed face with a single large eye, crooked mouth, long white hair, and large glasses.

It was Madam Kali, the Seer that had delivered us our prophecy about the Deathly Hallows, but she was not happy.

"What is _this_?" she shrieked, not even offering a greeting, or an apology for intruding into our home. She held, crumpled in her hand, today's _Prophet_.

"A newspaper?" I tried, but she growled in response, and stomped over to me, taking in my whole being.

"You're not-? Why not?"

"I'm not-_what_?" I exclaimed, extremely confused.

"You didn't even tell me! I found out from this!" she screamed, shoving the newspaper in my face.

What had she found out about? Lilith? It's not as if Madam Kali was close to us. I wouldn't even consider her a friend, more like an acquaintance. I didn't see any reason why she should have been told before the public.

But Madam Kali was not foolish enough to think that, so what could she possibly be on about?

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You..." Her eyes flickered back between Voldemort and me. "You don't _know?_"

"What don't we know?" Voldemort said. "Speak clearly, Seer."

"You don't know..." she muttered. "You don't _know_ what the prophecy is _about?"_

"Of _course_ we know what it's about, woman, and we're doing the best we can," he snapped. "We've already got a lead on the Invisibility Cloak, and we've been searching for the Resurrection Stone!"

"You think... The Deathly Hallows?" Voldemort and I glanced over at each other. Our eyes were wide and I nodded slowly.

All of the sudden, she let out a long, sharp laugh. "It's not funny, of course, but you've got it all wrong!" She laughed hysterically some more. "You think its the Deathly Hallows? Absurd!" She stopped laughing. "Oh, but this is serious." Her gaze hardened once more. "You must come with me at once. Bring your child." She Disapparated in just as much grandeur as the first time.

I looked unsurely at Voldemort. "It's not the Deathly Hallows? We were wrong?" Voldemort just looked at me with an unsure expression, and I hated it. I hate seeing him vunerable, because it usually means that something is very wrong.

"Let's go," he said quietly, so we Disapparated together.

Whatever was going on, it was serious, but I couldn't help being in awe of Madam Kali's shop again. There were just so many interesting objects in it, but I forced myself to concentrate.

"How... How is the prophecy not about the Deathly Hallows?"

"They cannot be! There are only three Hallows! The prophecy describes something that there can be an unlimited number of!"

"Then, it's just unique and powerful magic objects?"

"No! It has absolutely nothing to do with the Elder Wand. Nothing!" she screamed, and I jumped back a little. "How did you two possibly not make the connection?"

"What connection?"

"Her name! Her name!"

"What?"

"Your daughter's name."

"Lilith? What about it?"

"Don't you know what it _means_?"

"No... it just popped into my head in my sleep and-" I froze. "Oh my Merlin. In a dream! My subconscious was telling me something!"

"And you never even looked up its meaning? Never took the time to know what your child's name meant?"

I felt horribly guilty. Why didn't I ever wonder what Lilith's name meant? Did I not care for my daughter?

"No," I said ashamedly.

"Of the night," she hissed. "Lilith means 'of the night.'"

"No," came a whisper from my side.

"Of the night? But you can't mean..."

"The prophecy is not about the Deathly Hallows. It's not about any Dark Magic or powerful creatures."

I looked at Lilith, tears in my eyes.

"It's about your daughter, my Lady. It's about Lilith."

**!**

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	5. Chapter 5

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"No..." I croaked, finding my voice again. "No, you must be mistaken. It's the Deathly Hallows... What does this even mean? What do we have to do?" I exclaimed, the panic rising in my voice. "Wha- what was the whole prophecy again?"

With a huff, Madam Kali pushed back her chair, and began to shuffle through some drawers in the back of the room. She emerged from the shadows with a scroll of parchment, and laid it down on the table for us to read.

I_n a time where shadows will meet rays, and sunset will match sunrise, it will come to them._

_Partners in war, and partners in life, ebony man and woman, king and queen of darkness,_

_The one of the night will come to them. Brought in pain and fear, brought to prevent more._

_It holds great power, but it arrives with power locked inside, held back by a greater desire. Held by loneliness._

_The power may be released, only by what the one of the night wants most._

_If two more of its kind do not join it before its 712nd midnight in their company, the power will fade away, never to be coaxed out, driven back by the darkness it came from._

_Each one similar will add to the strength, each key opening a nesting box of potential, 'till it is nearly indestructible._

_Then, he and she may destroy the lighting strike, with assistance from the most loyal and powerful of the night._

_And shadows may swallow the phoenix's light._

"Wait... Lilith needs to be joined by two of her kind? Do we have to train children to be Death Eaters before they even go to Hogwarts? Not that we'd allow Lilith to go there. She'll be schooled at home by us, naturally," I added hastily.

"No," said a voice, but it was not Madam Kali's. Voldemort's eyes were wide with realization, though I did not understand what could possibly be so stunning. "No, if I'm not mistaken... That's not what Madam Kali means."

"You are correct, young man," she said. "Surely, you realize what you must do?" she asked to me.

"No... no I don't. And how could Lilith be lonely? She has Teddy and Andrea; they're as good as her siblings."

"I do not know!" snapped Madam Kali. "I have no way of knowing! But I have reason to believe that if you do not follow what the prophecy tells you to do, Lilith will be a Squib! And the prophecy indicates that you need her magic to win the war, never mind the embarrassment of having the daughter of the two most powerful beings on the planet turn out to have no powers of our own!"

That must be why Voldemort was so shocked. "Lilith? A Squib? No, it's impossible," I retorted, knowing that they must be getting the wrong idea. "Lilith cannot be a Squib. She's already shown signs of advanced magic," I replied haughtily.

"But not anymore." Voldemort's voice was a whisper. He looked up at Madam Kali, saying, "No, she hasn't been using magic for a while. We were attacked in Diagon Alley. We believe that she is scared of magic. She's scared of Narcissa's, she's scared of ours, she's even scared of her own."

"That would explain it," replied Madam Kali thoughtfully. "And whatever will happen in exactly 347 days will coax the magic back out of her, but only if you do what the prophecy says."

"But what, exactly, is it that the prophecy asks us to do? Does Lilith need friends outside of her family, or...?" Both Voldemort and Madam Kali were staring at me incredulously. "What? What did I say?"

"Bellatrix, I don't think you understand..." started Voldemort.

"That's exactly opposite of what she needs," said Madam Kali.

"You mean... not more cousins?" I questioned, confused. "I don't think Tonks is planning on having another, and Draco is far too young."

"Your own," spoke Madam Kali, but I could not comprehend. "Don't you get it? They need to be your own children," she said bluntly.

It took all I had to stop myself from falling off the back of my chair, or even slumping into a dead faint, Instead, I buried my head in my hands and groaned. "No..."

"Yes," she said harshly, "though I don't know how you'll possibly achieve that now."

"I don't want to, though," I whined, and I didn't realize how childish it sounded until it escaped from my lips.

"You have to. Without fulfilling the prophecy, you have no chance at winning the war, and you will probably die!"

"But we can't!" I sprang up in my seat. "There's not enough time! What can we do?"

"Perhaps," Voldemort offered softly, "if the first child was born and the second conceived by that day, Lilith will regain her powers?" his voice sounded weary, weak even.

"I cannot say," stated Madam Kali, sounding far less mystical in her angry state. "But what other choice do you have?"

"None," I whispered, hating the words I was hearing. Two more children? I hadn't even wanted Lilith in the first place. I was glad to have her now, but to have even one more child seemed horrible to me. Lilith was supposed to be the only one, and now Madam Kali was telling us that some prophecy said that we had to have to more. I didn't doubt her, not at all, but I hated it. I hated the prophecy, I hated her, and most importantly I hated what we had to do. Furthermore, how would I even explain it to my family when I had so firmly stated again and again that we were done? That we were having one child, and that was that?

"Bella. Bellatrix." I was shaken out my stunned state. "It's time to go. Are you... okay? You look pale."

"I'm okay," I tried to say, but no sound came out. I simply nodded instead.

Voldemort had to help me up, which was no easy task since my legs seemed to be unresponsive and he was holding Lilith. Finally, with us both wrapped in his arms, he was able to Disapparate.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I stumbled over to the bed and collapsed onto it, my eyes closing and letting a single tear fall.

"Bella." I opened my eyes. Voldemort was right in front of me, and Lilith was safely in her crib in the next room. He took my shaking hands in his own.

"I don't want to," I said firmly, trying desperately to steady my voice. "We can't do it tonight. We can't try tonight. I hate that we're forced..."

"Is that what this is about?"

"Only part of it, but-"

"Bellatrix," he said firmly, and I fell silent, but his voice was softer when he spoke again. "It makes no difference, Bella. It doesn't change how I feel about you. It doesn't change how I want to be with you. The only thing it changes is that you won't be taking a potion.

"Bellatrix," he started again, with a sigh, but I cut him off with a kiss.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so sorry because... you're right. You're completely right."

"Look, Lilith is fine," he reassured me, unbuttoning the front of his robes. "How had can it be to have two more?"

"Extremely," I said sternly, which was hard to do as I unlaced the strings of my corset. "Just look at my family. My parents had the perfect little girl, and then Andy and Cissy came along," I said, grinning cheekily.

"Well, we can only pray that they'll be a bit more like you, won't we?"

And even in the stress of the situation, even in the dread and despair that I would feel in the days to come, I was happy at this moment. Because it wasn't about doing what we had to do if we wanted to see ourselves alive. It was about doing what we wanted to because we were still living.

**:D SQUEEEEEEEEEEE! two more Bellamort children? :O :D Review to find out!**


	6. Chapter 6

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"Nothing," he growled, backing away from the bowl. "Absolutely nothing." After painstakingly looking through the fight countless times in the pensieve, we still knew nothing more about the men who had chased us in Diagon Alley.

"I know this is your week to research, but I'm bored anyways, so..."

"Be my guest," Voldemort said, clearly agitated, as he pulled out a huge stack of old newspapers and magazines and began to rifle through them.

I sighed, and ducked into the pensieve.

I studied the faces, drinking in every detail I had already memorized five times. The piercing blue eyes of the first man, with his rough bit of stubble, strong chin, and wavy dark hair. The watery green eyes of the second man, along with his weak jaw, chubby face, and curly blonde hair, with a smooth freckled face. I turned to look at the next set of men that I knew would come barreling around the corner, but my eyes were drawn like a magnet to a flash of scarlet.

The blood.

Oh, it had never bothered me before. Just a week ago I watched the spell slash me again and again. I watched the dark liquid flow freely from my large wounds. I watched it all repeatedly. But today, one glance sent my head reeling. That blood.

I dropped to my knees, finding that I couldn't breath, tears were stinging at my eyes.

All that blood...

And suddenly I was pulled back into the real world, with Voldemort gripping my arm tightly. I was on my hands and knees, feeling sick and dizzy.

"It was the blood," I gasped, trying to clear my head, but the pressure in my skull was building and I felt horrible. My instincts were telling me to lie down, but I knew better...

All of the sudden, I bounded up, the urgency of the situation reenergizing me. I raced down the hall, sweat beading on my forehead, heart pounding, stomach churning, head throbbing, and threw myself onto the cold tiles, trying to take deep breaths.

I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet bowl.

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, hoping I was done, but I bent over again, and my insides heaved.

A good few minutes later, I was done, and I weakly opened the door, finally hearing Voldemort's curious calls and knocks on the door.

"Bellatrix? What happened?"

"The blood. I threw up."

"Do you think you're sick?" He felt my forehead.

"No," I replied. "We both know what this means." There was a pause.

"Are you sure? Should I prepare a potion to test?"

"I'm fairly certain. I remember how it feels," I said, and Voldemort glanced at my hand resting on my still-flat stomach. "But maybe we should, just in case."

Five minutes later, we were standing over a cauldron with smooth, white contents. Lilith made soft noises in her sleep in the crib behind us, and Voldemort gripped my hand tightly in support as I plucked a hair from my head. It drifted gently down into the cauldron, where the potion immediately began to fizz and change colors.

After a few moments of watching, I said, "It will take a minute," frowning at how shaky my voice sounded.

"Do you really think you're with child again?"

"I certainly hope so, although I never thought I'd hear those words come out of my mouth. But Voldemort, I'm just so scared for Lilith. I don't want her to live a life without magic."

"I know," he said, as the potion flashed bright white before fading to...

"Pink," he said slowly. "So, you're pregnant?"

"I'm pregnant," I confirmed numbly. I cried no tears and smiled no smiles. This was my duty. My duty to Voldemort, my duty to myself, my duty to Lilith, and my duty to the world.

"Motha, what pweg?" questioned Lilith behind us, apparently not asleep at all. Her thin lips were curved into a slight frown, and a single arched eyebrow was raised.

I sighed, not expecting having to explain quite yet. "Lilith, do you remember when Andrea wasn't here? Do you remember when it was just Teddy?"

"Yeff, Motha."

"Well, when you and Teddy were very young, Andrea wasn't born yet, because she was growing inside her mother, Tonks. Now Teddy has a sister, and you get to have a brother or sister, too."

Her eyes widened. "Baby?"

"Yes, a baby like Andrea."

Lilith gave me an oddly scrutinizing look for a one-year-old child. "Where baby?" she demanded.

"The baby's in Mother's belly," I said, a hand on my head, not liking where this was going.

"Hi, baby," Lilith said, waving at my stomach and blowing a kiss, before asking the dreaded question: "Motha, where baby come fruh?" I opened my mouth, no sound coming out, searching for words.

"Magic," said Voldemort, coming up behind me, and wrapping his hands around my waist.

"Oh," said Lilith happily, as if that explained everything. "Fatha, how baby come ow?"

"Magic," he repeated simply. Lilith's eyes widened and she nodded slowly, just like she had learned a huge secret.

"'Kay," she said, and went back to bouncing up and down on her bottom.

"Someone has too much pent up energy," I sighed, so I lifted Lilith out of her crib, and carried her over to her room, placing her down by her toys. She immediately grabbed her broomstick, and began to zoom around on it, whooping in excitement, which allowed Voldemort and me time to talk.

"Magic?" I questioned with a scoff.

Voldemort shrugged. "Would you rather I had told the truth?"

"Of course, not," I retorted, rolling my eyes, but I fell into a silent, serious mood afterwards.

"We'll be okay," Voldemort said.

I looked up at him. "I know. It's just a lot to handle at the moment."

"Of course," he said.

"It's just that Andy just has Tonks and Narcissa just has-" I cut off. "Narcissa! I have to go tell Narcissa!" I looked back down, and was surprised to see a little bit of hurt in Voldemort's eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied hastily, but I could tell that I had said something that touched a nerve. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

I sat back down, and he looked surprised. "Narcissa can wait," I stated. "She doesn't need to know everything. For now, it's just us. You, Lilith, and me."

"And the baby."

I put a hand on my tummy, smiling. "The baby, too."


	7. Chapter 7

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"Firewhiskey, Bella?"

"What?" I asked, distracted. "Uh, no, Cissy, no thanks," I replied, barely holding back laughter, remembering my little outburst last time this had happened with my other sister.

She sat down, placing a bottle in front of me, anyways. "Okay, you're up to something," she stated, grinning from ear to ear. "I've never known you to refuse a drink before, and besides, I know that smirk."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're on about," I said nonchalantly, taking a sip from my glass of water only.

"Well," she replied in a falsely grumpy tone, "I've never succeeded in getting you drunk before, so I don't see why you're worried now. You might as well accept the challenge."

"I'm not scared," I growled irritably. "It's got nothing to do with being drunk, Narcissa." She looked taken aback at my defensive tone, and I knew that I was being overly sour, even for me, which was probably the handiwork of my raging hormones. "Uh, sorry," I said after an awkward moment. "There's just a lot going on at the moment."

"Oh? Is everything okay at home? With Lilith? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Everything's wonderful. It's wonderful," I insisted. "But I can't say it doesn't push my temper a bit."

She edged forwards on her seat, staring sternly over her nose at me. "Bellatrix. I grew up with you. I watched you lie to our parents for over ten years, so I can tell when you're lying to me."

"Now, Cissy, I'm serious here. It's important. It's a good thing, but it's very important," I stated, attempting to imitate her expression. I had a feeling I was failing miserably, but Cissy did not laugh. She was now looking at me intensely.

"You're serious? It's important? Knowing you, that means it's probably life or death."

"Well, yes, it is one of the two."

She gasped. "You've caught Harry Potter!' I shook my head. "You know where he is, and you plan to catch him?"

"No."

"You've killed-"

"No Cissy, we haven't killed anyone." For once, Narcissa was silent. "It's the opposite, Cissy. It's not death; it's life." Narcissa's face was the definition of confusion; her nose was slightly crinkled, her brow furrowed, eyes narrowed, and she lightly bit her lip. "Lilith is getting a brother or sister. Narcissa, I'm pregnant again!" I exclaimed, forcing what I hoped was a believable smile onto my face. Narcissa's eyes were wide, and her jaw gaped, but she did not celebrate as she had the first time. My grin faded. "Narcissa?"

"Oh, Merlin," she whispered.

"Cissy? What is it? I'm happy, you should be happy!" I said, becoming slightly frustrated. Why wasn't she reacting the way I thought she would? "Narcissa?"

"What have I done?" she groaned.

I raised my eyebrow. "What have _you _done? I believe _I'm_ the one who's carrying a child here."

"I should have told you," she spoke, eyes wide and almost... _fearful_ looking for some reason.

"Told me what? Narcissa, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You shouldn't be here!" she exclaimed frantically, snapping to life and standing up so quickly she stumbled, and I had to grab her arm to stop her from falling.

"Don't help me! I'm not worth it! You have to go home! Get on bed rest immediately! What have I _done_?" she wailed insanely.

I was just about to ask what she was talking about again, but just then, none other than her husband, Lucius Malfoy, Apparated into the sitting room, dirtied and out of breath.

"Lucius?" I questioned incredulously. What sort of crazy day was this?

"You have to come with me immediately, Bellatrix," my brother-in-law panted. "Dark Lord's orders."

"But-" I started. What was Narcissa so upset about? "I need to-"

"Now!" he said. "We have to go now! It's important! We need you to help us fight!"

"F-fight?" I stammered. Narcissa had fallen back onto the couch at these words, _tears_ actually forming in her eyes.

"Narcissa! What's wrong with her? She got upset just because I told her-"

"There's no time, Bellatrix! She'll be fine. Come with me now!" He grabbed for my wrist, but I yanked it away. "Are you mad?" he hissed, showing no fear towards me for the first time in a while.

"I'm coming, but I can't Apparate. I'm pregnant," I snapped.

If Lucius was at all surprised, he hid it well. His eyes may have widened slightly, but he smoothly said, "By Floo then. Hurry." He grabbed for my arm again, and this time I let him pull me towards his fireplace, trying to ignore Narcissa's inexplicable sobs from behind me.

"What is going on with her?"

"No clue," he said gruffly, pulling a handful of powder from an elaborate vase. "_Bellamort Mansion!_"

I gawped at him. "It's at _my house_?"

"Go!" was his only response, and he pushed me through. I winced as my forehead connected with the rough bricks, but I skillfully regained my balance, searching for the gate.

I jumped out of the green flames, coughing out the ash and smoke I had inhaled in my moment of surprise. Lucius crashed into me as I moved away too slowly, and I nearly fell as he stumbled over me, and landed on the ground himself. Now that we were safely here, however, his aggressive mood seemed to have disappeared.

"Well?" I asked a few moments after he stood. "Don't expect orders," I sighed. "I have no clue what's going on."

"Right," he said shortly. "Follow me, then, I suppose." He allowed himself a small chuckle. "Though it's been a while since that's happened."

"Marry Voldemort, and you can have that privilege," I said sarcastically, struggling to keep up with Lucuis's rapid pace. "Now, would you like to explain what the hell is going on?"

"The 'Golden Trio' it seems, has somehow gotten through your defenses and into your home, though I can't possibly imagine why. It's as if they were suicidal."

"We're fighting three _kids_, and you really need me?"

"Well," he said, clearly embarrassed, "They were loaded with lots of their own defenses. Those little distracting things you get at joke shops, for one, and Peruvian Darkness Powder, for another. We couldn't tell where they were. They had different magical objects to protect them, too. They each had some sort of shield, as well as one of those curse-breaking hats."

"I hate those fucking things," I breathed.

"Yes, they do tend to get in the way, don't they?"

"I could outduel them all in two seconds without those fucking things in the way. It's cheating," I spat.

"I know it's not really possible, but if there were some way that you could possibly turn down the hormone levels, if you don't mind-?"

"Shut up, you."

"Yes, well, they've all lost their shields by now, at least. The mudblood girl dropped hers not moments after we started to fight, simply because she was scared. Potter's shattered when five spells hit it at once, it cut him up pretty badly too, and the ginger is so incompetent that he threw it to the ground after tripping over it several times. Well, it was a bad choice, because his helmet fell off his head merely seconds later- due to his miniature brain, no doubt- and he is currently without any protection, besides that mudblood girlfriend of his." I scoffed. "She may lose hers fairly soon, as well. The strap was severed right before I left. But you must understand that the Dark Lord is not fighting with us. He's hiding something, I'm sure you know what it is, and I don't know what, but I'm guessing it is of great importance. He has Lilith with him too, so don't worry," he assured me. "Anyways, it's just me, Yaxely, and Goyle. And... well, you know Goyle." He pulled a face.

"Noted," I responded dully. Suddenly, I began to hear the sounds of a skirmish, and a beam of light bounced off a window and zoomed past my ear. I started, and I saw Lucius follow my hand out of the corner of his eye as it flew to my stomach.

"You don't have to do this, Bellatrix," started Lucius, but as we peered around the corner, we saw that Goyle was down, and Yaxely was bleeding heavily from his arm.

"That's debatable," I responded, rubbing my thumb along my bellybutton. "Besides, If I can fight a battle mere minutes before giving birth, I'm pretty sure I can pull this off."

Lucius shrugged, and I realized that that was one small thing I liked about my brother-in-law: he didn't question it, and he didn't press the matter. He just accepted it.

We launched ourselves into the fray, and the mudblood screamed at the sight of me and Lucius returning. Yaxely was clearly relieved that we were back. He wouldn't have held up much longer, and surely enough, he fell to his knees mere moments later.

"I'm fresh, and you've already fought! I'm no good with healing anyways, so see what you can do with Yaxely's arm and if you two can revive Goyle! I can hold them off for a while!"

I began to duel furiously with the Mudblood. Sure enough, she no longer had any protection. Potter, the only one who still possessed a curse-breaking hat, was attempting to revive the red-headed boy. He wasn't having much luck. I noticed Potter was cut up pretty badly.

As another curse zoomed by my ear, I had begun to reconsider my orders. "Leave Goyle, just help Yaxely!" I shouted over the crackle of spells. "Goyle's not worth it! I'll need back up pretty soon!"

It was true. I was handling the Granger girl fairly well, but then Potter gave up on the blood-traitor friend, and began to fight. I could duel many people at once, sometimes up to six, but I was still distracted by Narcissa's odd behavior, and every now and then, a wave of nausea came over me.

Resisting the urge to empty the contents of my stomach onto the front lawn, I sent a simple stunning curse to Potter, and a more complicated _Rictumsempra_ to the Mudblood. Both blocked it with ease, and I discovered what kind of people I was fighting with..

Potter was clearly an expert dueler. He had the same intuition that both Voldemort and I had. He could dodge fast, use the most logical curse, and his wand movements were natural and quick. However, his spells were limited; he had the power to use them, but he was held back by his limited incantations, and he was an extremely poor Occlumens.

On the other hand, the Mudblood was not a natural dueler. It was clear that she was smart. She used complicated, and sometimes even obscure curses. She had a good mind; she had a fair control of Occlumency, but her movements were stiff and awkward, and she did not have a dueler's intuition.

Therefore, I sent complicated curses in Potter's direction that he would most likely be unfamiliar with, and a succession of curses at a time towards Granger. In a space where I didn't need to cast a curse or block an incoming attack, I shouted, "_Incarcerous_!" to bind the Weasley boy in ropes, just in case he came to.

Things were going pretty well for a while. I managed to injure Granger on her lower leg, but I had only cut Potter on his cheek. Granger was limping, clearly slowed down, but Potter was just as skillful as, and possibly even more angry, than before.

"_Stupefy_!" I cried, pointing my wand to the right of me. I did not hit the Mudblood, but I did cause her to fall over.

However, I had left an open shot by moving my arm. Potter spotted the target, and shouted, "_Sectumsempra_!" Next thing I knew, that horrible cutting curse was sailing towards me, and I was frozen in place, as it sped towards me at lightning speeds, right at my center, where my new little baby slept.

This was the end.

Or so I thought. Right before it hit me, Lucius jumped in front of me, pushing me backwards. I fell to the ground, hard, but safe. A huge shield formed in front of him with such a force that it knocked out the already dazed girl, and brought Potter to his knees.

Just then, a curse came to mind. It was a simple charm, just a silly little thing that I had invented myself in my Hogwarts days. But it would be oh so useful right now. I stared hungrily at Potter's cuts.

A firm grasp pulled me towards my feet. My blood lust must have shown in my eyes, because Voldemort nodded me on. But first I had two questions.

_Lilith?_ I asked silently.

_Safe upstairs,_ his voice echoed through my mind.

_And the horcruxes?_

_Hidden._

_Wonderful,_ I thought.

I steadied my balance, and stared at the bespeckled boy. He raised his arm to cast a curse, but I was faster. "_Oceanus Totalus!_" A spring of water shot from my wand, but this was no _Aguamenti_ fountain. A huge blast of salty water blasted from the tip, soaking Potter, and all his deep wounds. He screamed in agony, before falling to the ground, unconscious from the pain.

I breathed heavily for a moment before Yaxely and Lucius whooped, and Voldemort kissed me, one hand on my still-flat stomach.

Harry Potter was caught. He was good as dead.

This must have meant we'd won.

**WOW! Have they won? What do you think? Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks once again for the wonderful reviews! You all are getting very good at this! ;)**

**I have new pictures on my deviantart! I finally finished illustrating The Luckiest, and now I'm about halfway through Unlucky! Go check them out! :)**

**ht tp :/ /darkpiratenellie. deviant art. com /**

"You're bleeding."

Voldemort's cool hand brushed across my forehead. I raised my fingers to feel the gash. "Did Potter do that to you?"

I laughed. "As if. He is a mediocre dueler at most. He doesn't know many spells. I hit my head while going through the Floo, that's all."

"You're unharmed?"

"A few minor scratches," I shrugged. "I'm not exactly in my element. Narcissa was acting weird lately, and it was distracting me, not to mention that I felt like I was going to hurl at any moment," I said, putting my hand on top of his, the one on my belly.

"And the baby?"

"Thanks to Lucius's quick thinking, just fine." I glanced over at Lucius. He and Yaxely were now attempting to drag the recovering Goyle to his feet, who, once fully awaken, began to celebrate the capture of the Golden Trio as well. "I let it slip to Lucius, but the others don't know, so..." I pulled my hand away, and he followed, taking the hint.

"You're sure you're fine?"

"_Yes,_" I insisted.

He nodded curtly and ordered the three men, "Take these three down to the cellar. Behind the big green box, straight in front of you as you come down the stairs, you'll see an old lever, probably rusty. Pull that down, and a trapdoor will open directly to your left. Bring the prisoners down to the dungeon, shackle them, and Yaxely and Goyle, you stay on guard. When they awake, send Lucius to us. We'll be in the drawing room," he finished, and I took his arm.

Once the men were out of earshot, I said, "They're probably wondering why we don't just kill them."

"We need to figure out how they knew where we live and how they knew that both of the horcruxes were here. If someone else knows about the horcruxes, we need to... well, _eliminate_ that threat, as well."

I scowled. "_I_ know why, dumb-ass. I was talking about _them_. _The Death Eaters._"

He smirked, not at all offended by my grumpy and rude reply. I just snorted, quickening my pace slightly and adding a little wiggle to my hips. Before I knew it, I was lifted into the air: Voldemort had hit the backs of my knees with his arm and scooped me up, spinning me wildly around before breaking into a run.

"Put me down!" I shrieked, but it was gleeful. "You listen to me!"

"I listen to no one! I'm the Dark Lord! I rule the world, and I have Harry Potter in my clutches! And now I have you in my clutches, too!" He sailed into the house.

"Well I'm the Dark Lady, you know, the one who rules the world with you, and I demand you put me down."

"No," he said, reaching the drawing room. He began to spin again.

"Do it!" I yelled. "Right. NOW."

"No."

"Do it right now, or I'll puke all over you."

"You wouldn't," he said, feigning shock.

"I'm completely serious." That actually wasn't true. Oddly enough, I was not the least bit queasy at that moment, but I intended to use my newly discovered pregnancy to my advantage.

He stopped. "Fine," he said, and dropped me unceremoniously onto the sofa.

I ignored his lack of gingerness, brushing myself off haughtily. "Besides," I asked, "don't we have to get Lilith from upstairs now?"

"No. I called Draco. He's with her right now."

"You really think of everything, don't you?"

"Yes."

I snorted. "Then come up with a name for our baby."

"Bellatrix."

"What?"

"No, I mean as a name-"

"Oh, not _this_ again!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air, and "dying" dramatically. I melted downwards, moving from my sitting position to where I was laying down with my head in his lap.

I smirked. "If it's a boy, his name should be Voldemort."

"Absolutely not." However, there was not a trace of amusement in his voice.

Not wanting to push him further, I asked, "What would you want then?"

"I don't know."

"You must have some idea. After all, you wanted Lilith to be a boy."

He was thoughtful for a moment. He said slowly, "I always liked the name 'Gemini.'"

I laughed. "So why didn't you just _say_ so?"

"But maybe not," he said hastily. "Maybe it's not a good name." He looked away. "I'm really not good at this. It was just a thought."

"Well, I think it was a very good thought. It goes well with Lilith, too. Gemini and Lilith. I like it."

"Whatever you want," he said, bowing his head, forgetting that my head was in his lap, and making eye contact, the very thing he had been trying to avoid.

"Well, if it's another girl, what do you think?"

"Well, Lilith's 'middle' name is a variation of your first name, so why not use your 'middle' name as the baby's first name?"

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Really? Do you really want our child's name to-?"

"It's very Slytherin," he pointed out, cutting off my protest. I smirked.

"We'll think about it. But it that's her first name, if she's a girl, what will her middle name be?"

He shrugged.

"Fine. No middle name yet. Now I'm hoping for one of our next two to be a boy, but say we have three girls? What then?"

He stared at me. "Isn't that looking a bit too far ahead?"

"Well, I was just thinking... I did have a good name, but it doesn't go with my 'middle' name..."

"What?"

"Elysia."

"That's very Slytherin, too," he commented.

I shrugged. A sly grin spread onto my face as a sudden thought struck me. "What if we have _four_ girls?"

He stood up, and I tumbled off his lap, landing firmly on my bottom. "_FOUR? _ We need two more kids, not more, not less!"

"Yes, we _need _three kids, but the more we have, the more powerful we become..."

"No."

"Hey, I don't exactly like the idea either, but..." I sighed. "Maybe we should just talk about it when the time comes."

"Maybe," he said, a bit forcefully.

I paused for a moment. "If we have two boys, the second one is Marvolo."

"You really don't want to keep talking."

Standing up, I conjured a mirror on the wall, and pulled up the bottom of my shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked, despite his previous statement.

I did not reply, only turned back and forth, sucking my stomach in and pushing it out.

"Well?"

"Looking for a bump," I replied, rubbing my hand over the flat surface.

"How far are you? One month? There isn't one yet."

I vanished the mirror. "Yeah, I guess. I just wanted to check."

Sighing, he sat down. "Come here."

He pulled my shoulders to him and kissed the top of my head. "You're something else," he said.

I just looked up at him. "Marvolo? _Please_?"

"Maybe. Only if we get a girl named-"

"No!"

"Then, no deal."

I was about to protest, but Lucuis strode into the room.

"My Lord and Lady, the Potter boy has awaken."

**LOL I'm so evil, not even letting you know Bellatrix's middle name. Truth is, I don't even know myself. There are a few speculations, but I don't know if they are just fanon or the real deal. I'm probably going to wait for Pottermore. If there's nothing listed, I'll use my favorite of the fanon ones :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Great reviews, AGAIN! :) I'm really loving them, thanks soooo much! Though may I point out to anyone who's wondering: Bellatrix's middle name is not necessarily her mother's first name. My middle name is my mother's first, but my best friend's isn't so... yeah. Just thought I'd clarify that! :)**

**Oh, and I just thought I'd mention that on my new artwork that I was talking about, I have a 'deleted scene' in the description for one of my illustrations for Unlucky, so check that out if you're interested! :D**

**Sorry for the late update! I'm having trouble getting back into my school schedule. :( Unfortunately, it doesn't give me lots of time to write.**

"Welcome, Potter," said Voldemort, looking down at the bespeckled boy. "I must say, although it was quite the surprise, I'm quite pleased to have you in our presence today." I walked up beside him, and he wrapped his arm possessively around my waist. "Though you may want to wait for an invitation in the future." I laughed.

"We are merciful and kind, Potter, despite some nasty reputations," I continued, smirk upon my face, "so we wouldn't want you to get the impression that you can be rude. We're going to teach you a wittle wesson," I said, baby talking to him. He growled. "We're just going to give you a small punishment. We're going to have to take something away."

"Your life," Voldemort finished for me and I grinned. Potter's eyes shone with fury and defiance. He pulled at the chains which shackled him to the wall, creating a deafening noise. The mudblood girl was startled awake, and the ginger opened his eyes lethargically. The girl seemed to not realize where she was at first. Her chest heaved as she took in short, panting breaths, eyes darting around the room. She looked like a cornered animal. I was far more entertained by the redhead, however. As he looked up at Potter, he smiled for a moment, not knowing where he was. Slowly it sunk in, as he felt the chains holding him and felt the chill of the cellar dungeon. His skin paled significantly, and he gulped as his eyes met our shoes, traveling up Voldemort's body and my own, and resting with a certain misery onto our smirking faces.

Voldemort took a step closer, bending over to leer in Potter's face. "As much _pleasure_ it would give me to end your pathetic existence at this very moment, I'm afraid it is not an option." He stood abruptly. "You three will answer our questions truthfully and individually. If your stories match, and you do not attempt Occlumency, you will be killed less painfully and much quicker than if you fail to cooperate."

There was a gasp from the corner and my eyes darted over to the Mudblood girl. Her face was ghost white, and she looked like she was about to be sick. Her breathing was rapid once more, but this time, somewhat strained. I was at a loss for what was going on, until I saw a red trickle run down her arm.

"Unchain them!" I shouted. "Get those cuffs off immediately!"

Voldemort did not question, but he looked curiously at me. "She's trying to kill herself or fall into unconsciousness, so she won't have to answer our questions," I growled.

Sure enough, as the cuffs burst open, there was a red crescent moon along each of the insides of her wrists. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, but her lip trembled, and her intense stare did not hide the fact that she was terrified.

After a few seconds, Potter realized he was no longer held by chains, and he launched himself towards me, hands in fists. My wand shot to the base of his throat, and he halted abruptly.

"That's going to cost you," I hissed. He just stared down the end of his long nose at my wand, and I pressed the cold tip of the wood into the side of his neck. He tilted his head away, clearly uncomfortable, but he still stood erect and rebellious. Anger welled up in me at his arrogance, and I shoved him to the ground. I growled at him angrily, "As long as Malfoy stays by that wall-" I gestured to my brother-in-law, who had his wand pointed at the doorway, "-the charms will hold, and you cannot leave this room. You have no way to escape." I took a deep breath, horribly angry at his blank face. Didn't he understand he was going to die?

"Well, then, I suppose it's you first!" I hissed.

I stooped down and roughly grabbled Potter's arm with the intent to drag him to the other side of the room. I was stopped by a cool hand on my shoulder.

"Bella." I looked up at Voldemort, his red eyes shining. "Let me do it," he said with a knowing glance, so I nodded and thrust Potter into his own arms. Instead, I turned to the back wall, where the remaining two prisoners were huddled together against, and I whispered, "_Muffliato._"

I whipped my head around at the thumping sound from the side wall. Voldemort had thrown Potter against the rough stone. Blood now dripped from his palms and the back of his head, and he slumped to the floor, although he stayed conscious.

Voldemort considered the scrawny boy at his feet for a moment and spoke softly, yet menacingly. "It's a shame we no longer have the horcrux connection between us, isn't it? Then I could know everything, without any doubt. I could know _everything_, without your feeble attempts at Occlumency blocking my way." He stepped forward, and gave Potter a strong kick in the side. The boy, rolled over, gripping his ribs and groaning, but I could feel the walls strengthen around his mind.

Voldemort struck him across the face, but the barriers just strengthened once more.

Voldemort bared his teeth. "For this, you will be tortured before your death, boy. And if your story doesn't match those of your friends, I assure you, your death will last _days_."

"First question, Potter," I said harshly. "How did you find us?"

He shook his head and spat. It was an ugly mix of saliva and blood, and red liquid dribbled down his chin. "I'll never say."

"_Crucio!_" He writhed on the ground. When I lifted the curse, he sat back up immediately, but this time, his eyes gave away the pain. "I'll ask you one more time: Did you follow us, or did someone inform you of our whereabouts?"

"We were informed," he spat.

"By whom?" I inquired threateningly.

"I won't tell you anymore."

"_Crucio!_" This time, it was a double cry, one from me, and one from Voldemort. The extra powerful spell hit Potter with so much force, he was lifted off the ground for a moment.

This time after we both lifted the curse, he stayed supine on the ground.

"I believe the Dark Lady asked you a question, and I expect you to answer it. Who informed you? Who knows where we live?"

"I won't tell you anything!"

"_Crucio!_" He writhed again, but no cries of pain came from him. He was stubborn.

"Well?"

"NO!" He shouted. My blood boiled, and I shot a spell at him, creating a huge gash across his face. Blood spurted from the right side of his forehead, down to the left side of his chin.

"Look at that Potter, another scar to match the one my husband gave you all those years ago. Does this make you a double Wonder Boy?" I cackled sharply.

"Have it your way, boy," said Voldemort. "I'm sure the tongues on your pathetic sidekicks will be looser."

Potter was pushed back over to the far wall. He tried to stay standing, but his knees gave out, and he slumped to the ground next to his companions.

I squinted at each of them. Kneeling down next to the girl, I put my face so close that my breath ruffled her hair.

"You're next," I breathed, and she whimpered.

The redhead had a sudden burst of confidence. "Not Hermione! I'll go! Don't do anything to her! Don't you touch her!" He had pulled himself up onto his knobby knees, and I laughed, pushing him back down to the ground.

"Sorry, ginger," I taunted, "But mudbloods come before blood-traitors in my book."

"Don't call her that!" he shouted, hauling himself back up again, and this time, I blew him back down with a small curse, laughing at his poor attempt to sacrifice his well-being for hers.

"You and me, girl," I cackled. Her wide eyes shone in fear. Her emotions were so clear, even in the shadows of the dimly lit room. Yes, she would be easy to squeeze information from.

"Why?" She whispered.

"We need to know, don't we? Whoever you got your information from, well, we can't have them openly discussing our location, can we? They must be taken care of!"

She seemed to not hear the response. "Why?" she questioned again, but after a few moments, she clarified. "Why must we die? W-we're fighting for our lives. We have a r-reason, b-b-but what do you have to f-fight for?" Even her words trembled. She stuttered horrendously.

"What do we have to fight for? I have more to fight for than you will ever know, you little bitch," I growled. "Right here," I said, placing my hands on my belly, and her eyes widened. I moved closer, bending over her once more. "I don't want my kids living in a world of such bad influence. Do you think I want a pathetic little bitch like you around? Do you think I want my children to learn from that, and become as worthless as you?" She just cried, backing away. "Well?" No response.

Voldemort pulled her up, and began to drag her to the side wall where we had attempted to question Potter. I followed eagerly.

There was shuffling behind me, and I turned around just quickly enough to see Potter racing forward, bloodied face contorted in rage. His fist was raised, and before I knew it, he had punched me in the stomach.

He missed. That didn't mean that I wasn't in pain. I dropped to the ground, screaming, clutching my ribs that were surely fractured. In mere seconds, Voldemort was right there. "Bella," he murmured, and I could just barely detect the waver in his voice. I knew he was frightened beyond belief; his voice betrayed that with the subtle hint that only I could pick up.

"Bellatrix!" In another moment, Lucius was there too, spitting profanities. Both men were trying to pull me out of my fetal position that I had curled into in a pointless attempt to protect my ribs from damage that already occurred.

"No!" I gasped. I tried to say "I'm fine," but I was in too much pain, and it only made them assume the worst. "Go!" I gasped. Lucius had come away from his post, meaning that the charms had fallen. We couldn't let the prisoners get away.

"Bellatrix, no... what about-?"

"Go!" My voice was slightly stronger. In a few seconds, I heard Lucius sprint away.

"Bella, the baby."

"The baby-fine," I gasped.

"He hit you, Bella-"

"Get him! Bring them back!"

"The baby-"

"Is fine!" I gasped, finally able to form full phrases through the pain. "He missed!"

"But you're-"

"He got my ribs, but the baby is - fine. Now, go... go catch him!"

He squeezed my hand, and sprinted up the stairs. I groaned in pain. After a moment, I hauled myself to my feet after picking up the wand that I dropped. The pain was intense, but I pulled myself up the stairs, leaning heavily on the banister. As I got up, I looked at the table at the top of the stairs, horrified. Potter's wand was missing. They could Disapparate.

I ran, or limped, to where I heard shouts. Leaning against the walls of my house, I followed the crackling of the spells, and practically fell out the door. As soon as I was outside, I collapsed to my knees, looking at the figures far across our yard. The mudblood and Weasley were running, Potter dueling the two men pursuing him. His sidekicks were off our property, out of the anti-Apparation zone, and Potter was close to the edge. At the last few feet, he turned around and sprinted, the curses from Lucius and Voldemort missing him by a hair. He grasped onto the arms of his friends and twirled, curses flying around them, but never touching. Screaming in anger and pain, I helplessly watched them Disapparate, gone in the blink of an eye. They were out of our property, out of our clutches.

**...Shit. I thought they were finally gonna kill them...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews!**

"ARGH!" Lying supine on my bed, I winced, hearing Narcissa's infuriated scream all the way downstairs.

"Narcissa, please just calm down and check her over," Lucius's faint voice carried as two sets of feet marched up the wooden steps.

"Lucius, if I wasn't so concerned over her and the baby's well-being, I would _kill her_ right now!" Voldemort looked down at me with a single raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what she's so upset about," I said softly. "It's not like I've never been in more dangerous situations before."

I could hear Lucius's voice again, this time much closer to the door. "That's what I don't understand, Narcissa, love." It sounded like Lucius agreed with me. "She was fine when she was expecting Lilith, so I don't see why you don't just let her take care of herself. She can certainly—"

"No, Lucius, that's the problem! She wasn't fine when she was pregnant with Lilith and—really, Lucius! Let me go talk to her!"

"You're wrong, Narcissa. I've seen your sister and she's strong. Maybe she's too strong for her own good sometimes, but—"

"You don't know what happened! Lucius, _she_ doesn't even know what happened to her—and—Lucius!" I didn't think I'd ever heard Narcissa so upset in my life, who had been cut off by a stern whisper from her husband. Voldemort's face showed an expression of slight worry.

"What... happened?" Voldemort questioned over the heated whispers. "Bellatrix, do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

"No, but she got really upset when I told her today—" I stopped as Narcissa stomped in, face red and fist clenched.

"You fool! You could have gotten yourself killed today! Not to mention the fact that you _could have lost_ the baby! Who knows? What if it was harmed? What if—"

"Gee, I don't know, Narcissa," I responded coldly. "How about you examine me first, and then tell me if I was so careless as to kill my child?"

She growled. "I tried to tell you to be careful, but did you listen to me? No! You ran off to _fight_ right after I said how dangerous it was for you to even—"

"To even what? Live? Really, Cissy, I don't see why you're so obsessed with this all of the sudden. Lilith turned out fine, didn't she?"

Narcissa took a deep breath to calm herself. "Yes, Bellatrix, but it's not Lilith. It's about what happened when you were pregnant with Lilith, and I suspect that whatever went wrong was caused by the injuries you got in the battle at the Ministry of Magic."

"But Narcissa, _I'm fine. Lilith is fine_. Nothing went wrong, so what in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

"Bella, you need to think back further. Think to before you even knew about Lilith. Think back to before—"

"That's it!" Narcissa and I looked over at Voldemort in confusion. His eyes were wide in realization, and the smallest smirk graced his lips. His eyes focused on mine softly.

"Narcissa, please examine Bellatrix immediately. Bella, I'll be in the pensieve room. I think I know what we need to look for!" He exited with a swish of his cape.

"What could that be about?" I murmured, but Narcissa ignored my comment.

"Bella, there's something you should know about Lilith. It's something I should have told you a long time ago, and I think it might affect the new baby, if you're not careful."

"Narcissa," I said softly. Her words were beginning to make me nervous. "Please. Just perform an examination first. Telling me stories isn't going to help right now if my baby is bleeding or crushed right now." A lump rose in my dry throat, and I realized that I was more scared than I had thought. "Just... make sure everything is alright, so you can try to heal it if not, okay?"

Narcissa jumped back a little, finally noticing the logic in my words, and she nodded, pulling out her wand. Unfamiliar words came out of her mouth, rushed ... and jumbled, but only to my ears. Bursts of light came out of her wand one after the other, covering my middle before flowing to her mind. She breathed a sigh.

"Well?" I questioned anxiously.

"As far as I can tell, the baby is safe and healthy. Now, it's your turn."

Similar charms were cast that surrounded my whole body transfered the data to Narcissa's head.

"Other than a few nasty bruises and a little scrape, you're fine. You're really lucky, Bella."

I sighed. "I know." I hesitated a moment before saying, "Narcissa? Can I ask you a question?"

She sat down on the bed next to me as I pulled myself up. "Yes."

"Exactly... how much can you tell by those spells that you do?"

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was just wondering... if you could tell me whether the baby is a boy or a girl."

She looked up absentmindedly into the corner of the wall. "Surprisingly, not much. I can really only tell if you're pregnant at all, and if the baby is sick or injured. I can't tell you the gender. In fact, you could be carrying twins or triplets and I wouldn't even be able to tell you."

"I could be pregnant with multiples?" I asked, shocked. If I had twins, we wouldn't need to worry about the prophecy.

"Bellatrix, I meant rhetorically. You, personally, could never have multiples, thanks to your injuries in the battle at the Ministry. Those injuries are probably why it took you a full year to get pregnant again."

"Oh," I said, slightly disappointed. I forced myself to push the thought out of my head. _It isn't possible, Bellatrix, so there's no point in even considering it._

"Of course, if you went to St. Mungo's, they'd be able to everything, but they have loads of magical medical instruments that I can't attain. I'm using the most complex spells I can—"

"Of course, Cissy," I replied hastily. "I know you're always doing your best."

"On the other hand, for you," she continued, "I can know lots of things because you've already been born. I know all the basics, like if you're sick or injured, but I can also go through a history of anything your body has gone through.

"And that's why I know... Bella, there's something really important I've been trying to tell you. In fact, I've been trying to tell it to you ever since Lilith was born, but I didn't want to upset you in your happy moment, and I just let it slip out of my mind. It wasn't important to tell you then, but now that you're pregnant again..."

"What is it, Cissy?" I asked, startled to see tears in her eyes. She gripped my hand and breathed deeply.

"Bella, when you were pregnant with Lilith, something went wrong. You were supposed t—"

"Bellatrix!" I looked up. "Are you and the baby fine?" Voldemort asked anxiously.

"Yes, but Narcissa was just telling m—"

"You have to come see this, right away. I've found her. I've found the one who somehow knew who we were!"

I drew in a sharp breath. "From Diagon Alley?"

He nodded. "She seems very familiar, but I cannot place who she is. You have to come see this."

I jumped up, all thoughts of any health issues on my part completely out of my mind. "Let's go."

"Bella—" Narcissa started urgently, but Voldemort and I were already out the door.

"You have no clue who she is?" I asked over the clacking of my heels down the hall.

"Like I said, she is familiar, but I don't know where I've seen her before."

"Well, maybe I will," I said hopefully, coming up to the wide, shallow bowl beside him.

"Ready?" he asked, standing at the edge of the pensieve. "You don't have to worry about the blood because we're only watching the beginning."

"The beginning?"

"Yes. It came to me when Narcissa was talking to you about looking further back, back before you actually gave birth. Back before the actual event."

"So..." I said slowly, processing his words, "You're saying that we're going to look back before the men actually attacked us?"

"Exactly. We were looking in the completely wrong place. The men had to be informed of who we were before they attacked, didn't they. Someone saw us first. So are you ready?"

I took his outstretched hand. "Ready."

We swirled down, a motion that made me slightly queasy, but I said nothing. I immediately recognized the stores we'd passed and gone into.

"This far back?" I asked.

"Look," he said, urgently, pointing to a five-foot space between two buildings.

I walked closer to the woman, taking in her appearance. She was clad in all pink, and the sight of it almost made me gag. She had shiny pink shoes, pink tights, a flowered pink skirt, a fuzzy pink sweater with three white cats on it, and an awkward looking pink hat perched atop of her tightly curled hair. She had an unattractive face, with small eyes that bulged despite their size and a thin mouth that twisted into the smallest smirk. On one arm rested a small pink purse, and the hand of the same side clutched a small round white object. She let out an annoying cough or clear of the throat, what was meant to be a very dainty "ahem." My heart leaped as one of the men appeared from behind her. She whispered something to him, and he nodded, eyes glinting, as she pointed over to the memory us, who he, and the others, began to follow.

I stared at Voldemort with disbelieving eyes, who just nodded and gestured for me to come with him. I took his hand once more.

We'd found the woman who saw through our disguise.

The only thing left to do was to find out who in Merlin's name she was.

**I _KNOW_ you all thought you were going to find out Narcissa's secret. Maybe some of you have your suspicions. My lips are sealed :)**

**However, most of you DO know now who saw through the disguise. If not, you probably need to reread the books :/**

**Lol, jk! If you don't know who she is, you _will_ find out, next chapter, I promise!**

**But only if you review! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**I know my busy school schedule has been keeping me from updating frequently, but you guys have stuck by me and continued to be loyal readers despite my slight lapse. Therefore, I want to reward you with this quick update! :) have fun!**

"Voldemort!"

"Bellatrix!"

The calls were simultaneous and of equal urgency. Voldemort and I looked into each other's eyes. Neither of us suggested that the other go first.

Voldemort took charge and started, "You'll never believe what I just saw—"

"I know."

"You read the paper from December 4, 1983?"

I just stared at him.

He sighed, raising an eyebrow. "I don't believe we're on the same page here."

"No," I replied drily, turning back to the mirror. "Come here," I ordered.

The second eyebrow rose to meet the first. "Bossy," he commented, but came to my side, nevertheless. "Look!" I exclaimed.

He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. His eyes ran over me before he asked, "What?"

"My stomach!"

He looked down, and then his eyes rolled slowly back up to my face. He spoke slowly and deliberately to me, as if I was a young child. "Bellatrix. _You're pregnant_."

I hissed. "I _know_ that. You don't need to tell me," I retorted sharply.

"Then you shouldn't be all that surprised. You knew you were going to get a baby bump at some point. Now can you come here, already? I really have to show you what I found. It's an article—"

"I've been checking every few days for one."

"What?"

I breathed deeply. "Don't you get it? With Lilith, I didn't even know she was there. I found out about Lilith only because my baby bump was too huge to not notice."

"And because she was using the inside of your stomach as a punching bag."

"Well, yes," I admitted, looking fondly at my daughter in her crib, reading a picture book about flying.

"I still don't see the point, though."

I felt my blood boil ever so slightly. "You wouldn't," I spat.

He grabbed my wrist as I tried to turn away. "Get off me!"

"I don't see the point. That doesn't mean I don't _want_ to see the point."

I put my hand on the slight curve of my usually flat stomach and stared thoughtfully at it in the mirror. "To tell you the truth, I don't really get it either. It just seems special to me. It's the first visible proof that he or she is really there. It's a stage I missed last time, a stage that... that I w-wish I hadn't—" I cut off, tears forming in my eyes for inexplicable reasons. I tried to hide my face with my hair, ashamed, and I wiped my nose hastily.

"No... no, don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you do that. I wasn't trying to upset..." He swore, then turned around, pointed at Lilith and ordered, "Don't you ever repeat that," and looked back at me. "Bellatrix..."

I quickly recomposed myself. "Sorry," I coughed, wiping away one last tear. "Hormones."

"I know, Bella."

"How did we not notice Lilith sooner?" He sighed, and I almost regretted asking the question. I knew he didn't like to discuss that much.

"For one, we didn't think you even _could_ get pregnant. Besides, we were distracted."

"But... I'm only nine weeks. There was so much time... almost two full months for me to notice a baby bump."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. So, we didn't notice. In the long run, did it really matter? We still have Lilith."

"You're right," I sighed. "As always, you're right."

"But you're right, too, Bellatrix. We shouldn't ignore it." He put his hands on my little belly. Then, he turned around, and grabbed Lilith out of her crib, who squealed loudly, and held her right by my slightly protruding stomach.

"Lilith, look. Look at Mother's tummy. Do you see the baby?"

She studied my pale skin closely before shaking her head. "No! Lilith no see baby!"

"Look at my belly, Lilith," I said, pulling one hand towards the somewhat swollen surface. "See how it's all round now?"

"Why?"

"My belly's going to get bigger as the baby can fit as it gets bigger."

Lilith put her other warm hand on my stomach. "What if baby get too big for Mother?"

"It won't. It'll leave my belly before it gets too big."

"Magic?" she questioned, looking at Voldemort.

"Magic," he replied, fighting a rare smile.

Lilith looked back at me, big brown eyes full of curiosity. "Brother or sister?"

"One of the two," I replied. "But we won't know until the baby comes, won't we?"

Lilith smiled before suddenly grabbing the sides of my tummy and kissing it right above the navel.

"Careful," I laughed. "I don't like being ticked without warning."

Suddenly, I remembered that Voldemort had had something to show me. "Voldemort, what was that article you wanted me to see?" Voldemort handed Lilith to me, and led me over to the side table, where a yellowing newspaper rested.

Shifting Lilith on my hip, I studied the picture that his long, slender finger pointed to. It showed a crowd of about twenty people, obviously inside the Ministry of Magic. I could figure it out from the extremely recognizable fireplaces and the telltale floor tiles.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" I asked. All the people in the photograph looked extremely stiff and official. Right in the front, I noticed some retired Ministry of Magic officials, but I did not see anything of importance to us.

"Look in the background." I did so, and all I could see was the flashing of the Floo. My eyes searched around until when of the men in the foreground of the photo shifted ever so slightly to the right, exposing the left corner of the photograph. There was a plumper woman leaning over a counter, sighing some papers. Replacing the pen and handing the forms over, she turned around and revealed her toad-like face, with the simpering smile and eyes that protruded more than my stomach.

"It's her," I gasped. "Is there any information about her in the article? Is her name in the caption of the picture?"

"None," he said. "But this is a big step. We know she's from the Ministry, and well, the Ministry may be a big place with plenty of employees, but she can't hide forever. I'd say it'll only take six months to track her down, at most."

"In time for the baby," I said, more to Lilith than to my husband.

He replied nevertheless. "You'll be stress-free when it's finally time."

"Thank goodness for that," I commented, holding my daughter's hand, which had slipped down to my belly. "We both know we've had more than enough of _that_."

**:) If you didn't before, you'll definitely know who she is now.**

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	12. Chapter 12

**I'm so sorry for the extremely late update! I've been super busy with school, I had an unfortunate power outage for a day on account of weird weather, and I came down with a slight case of writer's block! And I must apologize again for a chapter without too much going on! I promise more action in the next! :)**

"Mother."

I peered down over the edge of the book I was reading. Lilith was standing in front of me, playing with her dark curls.

Groaning, I shifted the heavy book off my bulging middle, placing it on the table beside me and massaged the now sore skin gently, moving over to give Lilith room to sit. Immediately, she scrambled up, plopping herself down right next to me.

"Tummy ache?" she asked, putting her small hand on my swollen middle.

I gave her a half smile. "Something like that," I said, ruffling her locks.

"From baby?"

"No," I said, kissing her forehead. "From resting a heavy book on me, which I should've guessed was not a very bright idea."

She sighed, tilting her head down. "When will I get my brother or sister?" she asked impatiently for about the hundredth time.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I said, "You've already asked me that twice today."

She crossed her arms over her knees and rested her chin, dipping her head. "Forgot," she said.

I sighed, brushing a stay strand of hair from my eyes, "I've still got a long way to go, Lils. Three more months, though I don't know how I could possibly get any bigger. You didn't take up this much room, that's for sure," I said as I rubbed my swollen belly.

"That's forever!" she exclaimed.

"I'm going to have to agree with you on that one. Here, help me up." Lilith grabbed my right hand, and I used her and the arm of the chair to haul myself to my feet.

"I am too old for kids," I moaned, stretching out my back and rubbing my aching tummy once more. Combing out my hair with my fingers quickly, I then lifted Lilith, shifting her onto my hip awkwardly while trying to avoid the huge stomach that prevented me from lifting her the normal way.

"You're probably hungry now, right?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Well, let's go. We have some applesauce in the kitchen. Your cousin Tonks made it just for you."

Once Lilith was situated in her chair and gulping down her food, I turned my attention to the stack of letters that had been brought in by the owls.

I looked through them. Two were catalogs from stores in Knockturn Alley, four were letters from Death Eaters who had felt obligated to send notes of "Congratulations", and one from... Cissy.

I examined the front of the envelope. Her usually tiny print was now a messy, urgent scrawl. It was the least legible I had seen from her thus far. For a minute, I considered opening it, and I went as far as to break the seal with a long, sharp nail. But my hand stopped at the flap, and sighing, I opened a shoebox on the counter and placed the letter on the top of the unkempt pile inside.

This wasn't the first note I'd received from Cissy recently. She's been sending them to me for months now, but I wouldn't look at them. I could've pretended that I was angry with her, or I didn't have time, but that would be a lie.

The truth was, I was scared. Whatever Narcissa knew, it clearly upset her. If it was about Lilith, or the new baby, I wouldn't know what to do. If it was about me, I didn't want to know that either.

Some time, I would have to face her, though, and as much as I dreaded that, I accepted it. This time, when I went into labor I would most definitely not be in the Forbidden Forest. I would be at home, in bed, with assistance from Narcissa and Tonks. I supposed she would tell me then. Until that time came, I was completely content to wait and not know.

"," said Lilith. Applesauce dripped down her front.

Sighing, I took out my wand, and immediately she began to scream, "No! No! No! No!"

"Lilith," I groaned, cleaning her up quickly. After I slipped the wand back into my sleeve, she cried quietly.

"Lilith, I can't stand this much more... Look, Lils, magic is a good thing, it can-"

"Nononononononono... magic hurt!" she cried.

I didn't know what made me do it, perhaps exhaustion, perhaps imbalanced hormones, perhaps the pain of hearing something similar to this conversation every day, but I couldn't take it anymore. I sunk down into a chair massaged my forehead, and before I knew it, tears were leaking from the corners of my eyes. I began to cry.

"Bellatrix, are you _crying_?"

"No," I said hastily, turning my head away from Lilith. I didn't want her to see me like this. "No, I'm just tired," I continued, wiping my eyes.

"What happened?" asked Voldemort more quietly.

"I just... can't stand hearing her talking about magic like that. Like... like it's some evil, horrible thing that is only going to hurt her. And I can't stand the thought that it will be at least a year before she stops saying those things. She might say them forever!"

"Forever?"

"Yes, forever! What if what we do is not enough?"

"We won't have to hear them for forever, we'll _die._"

I sniffed, grinning in spite of everything, somehow feeling better despite the grim nature of the conversation, and especially Voldemort's last statement.

"Besides, I think there's something we can do to help her at the very least," he said.

"What?"

"I found the woman," he said, lips twisting into a triumphant grin. "Revenge is ours."

"And Lilith's. How soon can we get her?"

"We'll go out early tomorrow morning."

"You're taking me along," I demanded.

"I know by now that even if I didn't, you'd come anyways. At least I can keep an eye on you this way."

I smirked, glancing over at our daughter, completely oblivious to anything we were saying. "So, who is she?"

I watched as out of his pocket, he drew a small folded piece of paper. It was an old yellowed newspaper, crinkled and ripped, but miraculously intact enough to read.

"Read this," he said.

_This week we welcome one new staff member to the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Jane Umbridge. She will begin work this Thursday._ Beneath the caption was a picture of the toad-like woman, looking much younger (but not the slightest bit prettier), clearly recognizable.

I drew in a sharp breath. "Her? I've read about her. I thought she was against Dumbledore and the Order. She _hates_ Harry Potter!"

"She does, but she also hates us. It looks as if she's formed her own force. She's neither pro-Order or pro-Death Eater."

"Then what in Merlin's name is she?"

He grimaced. "She works only for herself. She's pro-Umbridge."

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	13. Chapter 13

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For once, I felt good. I was confident that today, at least half of our worries would disappear. Umbridge was going to die, and that would be one major threat eliminated.

With absolute certainty that Lilith was safe at home with Draco, and the toad-lady's last moments were happening, I walked with my head held high next to Voldemort, and it felt as if it had been far too long since I could say that.

We had met only a half-hour before we meant to strike to finalize our plans. Not a mere five feet from where Umbridge was seated, in the alley right outside her office, we gave out final orders and moved in.

Five Death Eaters, wearing Ministry of Magic robes, some also disguised as Ministry employees, along with Voldemort, rendered invisible, would go first to Umbridge's office door. Well, there were supposed to be five Death Eaters, but we now had four after one foolish man thought it would be smart to ask why we were disguised if we were in charge of the Ministry, and of the entire Wizarding World. I even wanted to scoff, just thinking of it afterwards. Any fool could see that five Death Eaters sauntering in, along with the Dark Lord himself, would cause a disturbance, and the very last thing we wanted to do was call attention to ourselves when performing an extremely delicate operation such as this.

Lucius and I waited outside of the Ministry as the Death Eaters took their positions which would ensure that Umbridge had no escape, while Voldemort performed charms around her office to prevent the use of Apparation or the Floo. Only Voldemort, Lucius, and I would enter Umbridge's office. With a sneak attack like this, we would not require any excess back-up, and Death Eaters were positioned in the surrounding halls, just in case.

Lucius wore his Ministry robes and I wore an invisibility cloak, not _the _Invisibility Cloak, but a replica that would last long enough to suffice. After speculation long into the night about whether invisibility charms would be safe, and without either of my sisters' knowledge and advice, we decided against them.

A few moments after the five men had departed, Lucius asked casually, "Did you get Narcissa's letters?" but I could clearly hear the tension in his voice.

My forehead creased. "Lucius," I sighed, forcing myself to look at him. His blue eyes looked tired. "I... They were received in the mail," I commented, pulling my eyes away again.

"But you didn't read them."

"I..." I choked. "I...I couldn't," I managed to whisper.

"Why, Bellatrix? I don't like to get involved in situations that don't involve myself, but she's worried for you. She says there's something wrong. Something important you need to know. She says-"

"No!" His eyes darted to mine. "Please," I begged, "don't tell me. I can't stand to hear it."

"I couldn't tell you if I wanted," he said. My eyebrows rose. "I don't know. She wants you to be the first, and possibly the only one to know whatever she does. She hasn't told me, and she isn't going to."

I did not respond right away. "It must be something very important," I finally commented.

"It is. And... I know this is hard to hear, but... she says that if you truly care about your unborn child, you'll hear what she has to say."

"I know... I just can't bring myself to-" I was cut off by tears. "It's terrifying," I moaned, stepping away for a moment.

"Bella?" I did not answer his call. "Don't do this; I don't even know where you are," he hissed, reaching out wildly. I let him grab my arm after brief consideration.

His arm wrapped around my shoulders, and he pulled me in, a truly brotherly gesture.

"Listen," he ordered, rubbing my arm, "Maybe you're not ready to hear what she wants you to hear, and that's okay. But after today, don't do this sort of thing anymore."

"What?" I questioned, clearly confused.

"These missions, putting yourself in danger, doing things you don't have to do. Narcissa won't tell me why, but she practically wants you on bed rest. I don't know the circumstances, and I don't know what being on your feet could possibly do, but if for no other reason, try to take it easy, or... as easily as you can take it. Just to humor her."

Thinking hard, I bit my lip. "You're right," I said, finally. "Even though I can't hear whatever secret she has to share with me, I should at least do what she tells me to do. It can only help, right?"

"Right," he assured me. "You might even find it beneficial. You've been looking worn-" All of the sudden, he hissed. The Mark on his arm burned ebony.

Instantly, I switched into battle mode. "Let's go," I said, previous conversation instantaneously forgotten.

As soon as Lucius and I stood out front of the office of Umbridge, his eyes widened, and he paled.

"Lucius?" My voice was barely a whisper. His arm was moving towards me as if it had no control. I began to back away before realizing what was happening.

"I'm right here," I whispered, sticking my fingers out just an inch from under the cloak. Voldemort's had found mine, and Lucius's arm dropped.

"Ready?" he whispered. "As soon as I knock, we walk in, make ourselves visible, point our wands at her, and I'll _stupefy _her. Let's go."

Lucius rapped twice on the door, as ordered.

No answer.

He tried again, this time calling out, "Ms. Umbridge? You have some important visitors that would like to see you."

Silence.

He turned the knob and the door slowly creaked open. I gasped.

Papers were strewn all across the office, drawers were pulled fully out from their cabinets and laid on their sides on the floor, and the desk looked messy, but empty all the same.

"Somehow, she knew what we were going to do. It looks as if she packed up and left in a hurry, just mere minutes ago," said Voldemort.

I could only gape at the empty office. The same went for Lucius, who was right beside me, frozen.

Voldemort's eyes travelled slowly around.

"Well," I spluttered, "shouldn't we go try to catch her?" I walked towards him, but an arm held me back.

"Stop," he ordered. "You'll disrupt the magic."

All of the sudden, my senses turned on. I felt the pull from the unbalance of magic in the room.

"She was in such a hurry that she left Apparation tracks," I whispered harshly. My wide eyes met his, which sparkled in amusement.

"Indeed, very good, Bella. Catching up with her should be extremely easy," he said turning towards the door, where Lucius was still standing, unable to move from the shock.

"Are you really sure, Voldemort?" Immediately I felt guilty for my doubt, but...

"I know a lot has not gone as planned, Bella, what with Potter escaping, and now Umbridge. But we know exactly where she Apparated to. It's only a matter of time, and we'll have her. Give it a few months. If we don't have her by then, you can say, 'I told you so.'" He smirked, and led Lucius out, who shook his head out of his thoughts, and followed obediently.

I looked around the room, taking in the nauseating pink wallpaper, the various teakettles, and three pairs of shoes, the only orderly part of the room at the moment, lined up neatly against her desk.

"We're going to get you," I hissed, even though Umbridge was miles away by now. Only a cat, a decoration on a china plate, mewed in reply.

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	14. Chapter 14

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"No! Put me down, you barbarians! I demand you release me, _immediately_!"

My head shot up. "Draco!" I called. Receiving no response, "Draco!" I repeated, louder than before.

My nephew's footsteps thudded rapidly down the stairs. "Aunt Bella?" he asked, out of breath.

"It's time."

"The baby, or Umbridge?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you hear that commotion out there, or has Lilith's crying burst your eardrums? They've caught Umbridge finally, but does it really matter? The procedure's the same for either one."

"Take Lilith, go to my house, send my mother over, and stay with Lilith until further notice," he said dutifully.

I smiled. "Good. Um... but before you go, help me up."

He did so, smirking the whole time. "It's not funny," I scolded.

"Actually, it really is," he teased, easily dodging a swipe of the hand I sent towards him.

I raised my eyebrows menacingly. "Just go."

He sobered up quickly, hearing the voices drawing nearer. "Okay. Stay safe, okay, Aunt Bella?" he asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me, Draco; the men have already done all the dirty work. I just get to do the fun part," I reassured him, winking. "Just go get Lilith, and don't worry about a thing."

He nodded and ran back up the stairs. I heard a bit of a fuss from my young daughter, and then the words, "_Malfoy Manor!_" not seconds before the door swung open. Voldemort strolled in, Crabbe and Goyle behind him, keeping a tight hold on the toad-like woman I hated so much, her face as pink as her fuzzy sweater, plaid skirt, and kitten heel shoes.

Her eyes narrowed on me. "Nice job," she spat, "letting the boys do all the work while you sit around and get fatter!"

I crossed my arms. "I would have stunned you myself if you hadn't bolted three months ago. And as if your petty comments would actually insult me. I'm nine months _pregnant_, you invalid."

She huffed. "Just what the world needs, more of your demon spawn!"

I cackled. "Oh! That's good! My baby will be one hundred times prettier and more talented than whatever you could produce, and everyone in this room knows it. So, shut it. Men, throw her down."

Voldemort opened the door to the dungeon, and Crabbe and Goyle literally tossed her down the stairs, before being scolded by Lucius for taking my words to heart. She landed at the bottom, and when she sat up, her face was bloodied, and her nose squashed-looking, most likely broken.

"You're big," Voldemort said, touching my swollen belly lightly. It was the truth. Narcissa had mentioned to me before that sometimes the belly was bigger in a second or third pregnancy, but I never imagined it could have been to this extreme.

I glanced down the stairs, just in time to see the heels of Umbridge's shoes disappear, as Crabbe and Goyle dragged her to be shackled to the far wall, Lucius following behind, with his wand-arm outstretched. "Maybe you wouldn't be so surprised if you'd been quicker to get her. Three whole months? What took so long?"

"Crabbe and Goyle slowed us down. They really aren't the brightest in the bunch, but we needed their strength."

I followed him carefully down the stairs. "Understandable."

I gripped his arm on an impulse. My eyes bore deeply into his. "I missed you," I said reverently.

"I know," he responded, gently loosening my iron grip, not before squeezing my fingers in acknowledgement. My heart thudded warmly.

Umbridge was now quiet, chained to the wall behind her, but her face held an expression of silent fury; her face was redder than before, her eyes bulged, and her mouth was pursed tight. Voldemort's eyes glinted. I could practically feel the satisfaction rolling off of him in waves; he was extremely pleased to have the troublesome witch in his control, and such raw emotion filled me with absolute adoration.

On the last step, I let out a gasp, stumbling. My eyes widened, and I froze at the base of the steps, deep breaths ruffling my tightly curled hair as I gripped the banister, knuckles white and teeth clenched. Slowly my eyes rolled over to the others. Goyle's and Crabbe's arms were crossed, feet apart, both men looking large and menacing in the flickering light. Lucius was testing Umbridge's shackles, who stared defiantly up at Voldemort, standing over her, twirling his wand between his thumb and forefinger as he considered her smugly. Nobody had seen me fall. Nobody knew.

Now was not a time for weakness. We'd waited for months for this moment, poured hours into research and planning, wondered for too long. I couldn't wait another day. I couldn't wait another hour. My hate for Umbridge was so strong, it straightened my back, narrowed my eyes, and put an evil grin on my lips. Judging from her expression, I was a terrifying sight as I stepped from the shadows, eyes glittering in the dim light, fingers wiggling eagerly.

Seconds later, her eyes narrowed. "You can't fool me," she spat suddenly, in a rare moment of bravery. "I heard you slip on that last step." My throat tightened, but my face revealed no emotions. A single eyebrow was raised as I looked down my nose at her with my hands on my hips. "You can't even walk right." She cleared her throat indignantly, taking a deep, angry breath. "I should be the one in control. I can do more-"

"Aw, well isn't this cute," I cut in. "Look at her," I crooned, stroking her curls mockingly, pleased as she shivered in fright. "She thinks," I cackled, "that because she wears pink, she's a princess. Isn't that right?"

Squatting down, I gripped a large clump of fluffy hair tightly, pulling her head close all very quickly. She whimpered.

"You are not a princess," I growled. "You're probably not even half-blood. Worthless." As I swiftly stood, I allowed my fingers to uncurl as I dragged them along her face, leaving claw-like cuts in their trail.

"I can't walk?" I questioned. I turned to face the men. "_I _can't walk?" I asked once more, pointing vigorously at myself, eyes wide and innocent.

In a flash of proud fury, I whipped around, arm outstretched, creating a burst of light and a cry as two snaps rung out. My hair rose and spun like a fan, swaying as it came to hang at the sides of my face again.

The toad-woman's eyes were scrunched, and her legs were bent at awkward angles. "Let's see you do better, love," I said breathily, laughing sharply.

Her lip trembled, and her defiance was broken ever so slightly. "What do you want from me?" she huffed in a high pitched tone.

"Answers," said Voldemort icily, but at the same time, I responded, "Your life."

Umbridge's eyes widened and snapped to Voldemort, a silent plea.

Voldemort was not swayed in the slightest. "We want both. And unless you want more limbs broken, you'll answer them. If you cooperate, we may let you pass in a less painful way."

The breath she drew in was sharp, but this time, she had no clever comeback.

"So, first off," he asked, "How did you find us in Diagon Alley?"

Throughout the questioning, one object seemed to be the answer to every inquisition. Mad-Eye Moody's eye. The Auror had been stuck down by a travelling Death Eater who crossed paths with him in the sky. Alone, and taken by surprise, he had at last been defeated, but the body had never been found.

By us. Umbridge had stumbled upon it, burning it after taking the rare magical eye with her and using it for her own devices. It was the eye that had shown her our true identities in Diagon Alley the day we'd been attacked by her Ministry of Magic thugs. The same eye had alerted her our presence to her three months ago in her planned arrest and had helped her avoid capture until now, as Voldemort, Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle discovered her new location as she slept.

Lucius was reluctant to touch it as she mentioned it for the first time and Voldemort ordered him to retrieve it, but I took it eagerly in my open palms, caressing it, as the smooth glass rolled over my fingers. Such an object could be extremely useful to us, and it was amazing to have it in our possession, as it was extremely powerful and rare.

When prompted to tell us how to use it, Umbridge said in a trembling voice, "Pra-acticly any way you w-want. Any way y-you can imagine. You can w-wear it. You can h-hold it. You can place it in a h-hidden spot."

But the eye was the most useful information we received from Umbridge. She insisted she had no more names to give us; the men we had killed in the alley had been her only servants, and she stuck to her story even after excessive torture. The same went for locations of various Order of the Phoenix members and Harry Potter and his sidekicks.

At first, I was fine, caught up in the excitement and pleasure of revenge, but over time, I struggled to keep my composure, occasionally having to step out of the light to keep my secret as my brow furrowed, teeth ground, or eyes squeezed shut as I winced. As we had been at it for about an hour and a half, I wasn't even trying to keep a straight face any longer, I was just trying to stay on my feet. Fifteen or twenty minutes after that, even the attempt to stay upright had been given up. I leaned against a side wall, as far into the dark as I could, trying with all my might to not make any sounds of pain, praying nobody would notice that my frame was slumped and shaking violently.

The legitimate questions had long passed, and now the questions that Voldemort directed at Umbridge were further-fetched, and far apart, long periods of torture between each one.

After hearing about the tenth variation of "Do you know anything at all about immortality?" I could take it no more. Wiping beads of sweat from my forehead, I walked as normally and swiftly as I could to Voldemort's side.

"You've been quiet, Bella. Is there a question you'd like to ask?"

"Yes... Can we please be done now?"

"What?"

"Let's finish this. Voldemort- listen- she has nothing else to tell us," I said desperately.

He gave me an incredulous look. "You want to be done already?" His voice was laced with venom, but I found myself unable to care.

"Yes. Please. _Please._"

He hesitated. I could sense his anger, but it was clear he was unwilling to show it to Umbridge. "Very well. She has lost her use. Would you like to do the honors?" The toad-woman's head lolled to one side. It was almost as if she was ready to be done, too.

"No." My answer was a gasp, misinterpreted by Voldemort as eagerness. "You do it."

He knelt in front of her, and I swayed, knees weak and without any form of support. "You're finally getting what you deserve," Voldemort whispered, so close to her face that her bloodied bow ruffled as he spoke. "Do you have anything to say to that?"

She shook her head, shivering. "N-no," was all she said, voice barely audible.

Voldemort stood. "_Avada Kedavra_." She was so slumped over and still that I barely could see the life leave her. Perhaps there hadn't been much left when the deed was finally done.

We were all silent for a moment. "Crabbe, Goyle, you are dismissed," ordered Voldemort, finally turning away from the corpse. They left.

"_What_ was _that_?" Voldemort asked furiously, voice a whisper, eyes boring into mine. He paced the length of the room, coming right up to me before turning the opposite way and walking back. "We could have learned more."

As his back turned again, I fell to my knees and unexpectedly emptied the contents of my stomach, shoulders heaving with shivers and dry sobs.

"Bellatrix?" Lucius asked with concern. He vanished the mess, and kneeled by my side. I was on all fours, hands gripped tightly into fists, tears just beginning to the fall barely feeling the hands that loosely gripped my shoulders to steady me.

Voldemort, unaware of what had just happened, stepped backwards as soon as he turned. "What are you doing?"

"I have something to tell you," I gasped, rocking back and forth.

"Bella?" His face was level with mine, anger quickly fading from it.

"I'm in labor."

"Your water broke just now? I didn't see it happen," said Lucius, shocked.

"We didn't see it when it happened," Voldemort said, guiding me to my feet, eyes wide. I leaned heavily into him.

"Because it didn't break just now," I said, attempting to keep a shred of dignity as I grabbed his shoulders for extra support, putting my wet face against his chest. "It happened two hours ago."

**Bella... -_- Well, I suppose that's why we love her...**

**Baby time! :D**

**Review please! For baby.**

**...**

**Of course it has to be dramatic. Do you honestly expect anything different from me?**


	15. Chapter 15

**DRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.**

The first thing Narcissa did when she saw me was let her hands fly to her mouth as she let out a noise that was a cross between a gasp and a scream.

"What did she do to you?" she demanded, staring at my hunched figure, barely held upright by Lucius and Voldemort on either side of me. "Lucius, I thought you promised to keep her safe!"

"Narcissa!" said Voldemort sharply as I let out a dry sob. She cheeks flushed and her head bowed meekly.

"Narcissa, I swear, she did not harm me. The baby is coming."

Narcissa's face showed instant relief, before taking on a sour expression of exasperation. "Take her upstairs," she sighed. "If I may so boldly request, my Lord," she added, rubbing her temple as she slowly shook her head.

In a matter of a few painful and stressful minutes, Voldemort and Lucius had half guided, half carried me up the stairs, and Voldemort eased me down onto the bed. Right as he did so, a contraction hit, and it took all of my will to not scream, and upset Narcissa further. I ground my teeth and curled my hands into fits, silently taking the wave of pain that passed over me.

Narcissa lowered her wand, her eyes like ice. "You're dilated to nine inches, already, Bellatrix," she growled. "Is there something you haven't told me?"

My husband, brother-in-law, and I all glanced at each other, nobody wanting to be the one to tell Narcissa what happened.

"Is there something you haven't told me?" she repeated, glaring daggers at us.

Lucius broke, letting out a jumbled, "Her water broke over two hours ago; she was in labor before we even began the inquisition."

"And you let her do it?" she shrieked.

"He didn't know, Cissy. I kept it a secret." I glared evenly back at her.

Narcissa closed her eyes and let a deep breath out, pulling her hair back from her face. "Fine," she said, voice still slightly unpleasant. "The damage has been done. I hope you're prepared for a painful birth, because anything I can't do anything for the pain now."

But in all truth, it wasn't so bad. It was nothing compared to Lilith's birth; perhaps it was that I was in my own bed, with Narcissa and Voldemort here to help me, and Lucius just outside in case we needed him. There were no creaking floors and howling winds. No dead corpse in the next room. Maybe it was because I'd been through it before, and this time I wasn't scared.

"Lucius! Bring her a glass of water!" ordered Narcissa. She checked under the sheets again, almost impatiently. It was about the fiftieth time she had done so in the past thirty minutes.

I moaned, wiping the sweat from my forehead with one hand as Voldemort held the other, staring thoughtfully out the window. I was close, fully dilated, but with no sign of a head yet.

"Come on, Bellatrix," Narcissa said softly, placing a hand on my knee.

Lucius came back in, handing the glass to me. I took a sip, but it didn't help much. My throat was sore and tight, but from pain, not from dehydration, despite all my tears and the sweat glistening on my skin.

Suddenly, I felt a new pressure. "Check me again, Narcissa," I gasped, eyes wide, as I sat forward a bit. "I think I'm ready."

"You know what to do," she said in response. "Go."

Voldemort's attention was fully back, Narcissa waited eagerly at the end of the bed, and I just growled, forcing myself to use all the strength I could muster.

"Come on, Bellatrix, push!" said Narcissa.

"I _am_, Narcissa! " I hollered. "Shut up!"

Voldemort's eyes were focused at the end of the bed, and I knew what he was hoping for. _Please let it be a boy,_ I thought, for his sake.

I let out a hoarse scream, hearing loud cries immediately after my last effort. Voldemort pushed gently on my shoulders, guiding me upright, and I sat up, chest heaving, face still sweaty, but a large grin on my face.

Narcissa was smiling a soft smile; all the worry that she'd been expressing over the past nine months had disappeared.

Just as with Lilith, my heart was filled with an inexplicable joy as Narcissa lifted the squirming pink infant up. The baby's cries were deafening, but I loved every noise, just eager to hold my new child in my arms.

"Well?"

Narcissa's blue eyes met mine. "Lilith has a little sister."

The only disappointment I felt was for Voldemort, and I felt a sudden urge to give him something he wanted. "Proserpina?" I asked quietly, putting an end to the battle that had been raging in my mind for months.

"I thought you didn't want your middle name," said Narcissa, surprised.

I shrugged. "Is that what you want?" I asked Voldemort. His red eyes were large and grateful; they glowed scarlet from the low sun shining through the windows.

"Yes."

Even though I had initially not liked the idea of my child having my middle name as her first, looking at her little face, I knew it was right. It was impossible to explain, but it just felt right.

"Linnae," I found myself saying.

"What?"

I looked up, shifting the loud newborn in my arms. "Dark Princess Proserpina Linnae. If you like it, of course," I breathed with wide eyes locking on Voldemort's.

He touched her smallest finger. "It's fine. It works."

Narcissa smiled, an expression of approval, and Proserpina finally stopped sobbing as I spoke her name.

All of the sudden, I let out a short cry. "Stop," I gasped.

Narcissa's pleased expression faded. "Stop what?"

I barely heard her. My brow was furled, my free hand rested on my still swollen belly, and I breathed slowly. Had I really felt what I thought-?

"Merlin," I breathed. "Voldemort, take Serpina."

"She already has a nickname?" Narcissa joked.

"Bellatrix?" said Voldemort.

"Do it! I don't feel- Something's wrong," I choked, groaning as I hunched forward in sudden pain.

Narcissa scowled. "It's just the placenta, Bella, you shouldn't be so dramatic."

"Narcissa," I said as calmly as possible. "I know what that feels like, and I know what _this _feels like, and I can tell you they're distinctly different. This is going to sound crazy, but... check."

"Check what?"

I glared into her eyes. "Check for another head. I think I might be having twins."

She bit her lip. "Bellatrix, that's impossible," she spoke quietly.

"Im_probable_, Narcissa," I spat. "Check!"

Narcissa shook her head in exasperation, but she ducked down, nevertheless, as a shiver ran down my spine. When she came up, she had paled significantly.

"Improbable," I breathed. "What did you see?" I demanded.

"Y-yes," she murmured shakily. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she disappeared.

"Narcissa!" I screamed as I struggled to see over the edge of the bed. "Shit, I need her!"

"Bellatrix," said Voldemort quietly. "The prophecy..."

"I would smile in relief if it weren't for the pain and panic," I said. "But I definitely see where you're going. Lucius! Come here; we need your help!"

Lucius's expression was the definition of confusion as he looked at Narcissa on the floor, the bloodied sheets, me hunched over and moaning, and the newborn that Voldemort held.

"Twins," I explained in a strained voice.

He rubbed his forehead. "Should I even be surprised by anything involving you by now?"

"No," I snapped. "Just wake her up, please."

"_Ennervate_."

My heavy breaths and occasional moans were the only sounds heard for a minute, until Narcissa softly moaned, "What? What happened."

"Your sister needs you," said Lucius.

"Your sister is going to _Crucio_ you until you wish _you_ were giving birth to twins, unless you pick your ass off the ground right now and deliver this fucking kid," I growled. "Narcissa, help me, dammit!"

She bolted upright, taking her position once more at the end of the bed as I pushed.

"Come on," Voldemort muttered. "You can do it."

"Shit... Infertile, my foot, Narcissa," I shouted. "You lying little b-"

"Almost there, Bellatrix, just give one more-," she said.

I hollered, pushing as hard as possible, and gripped the sheets.

Then, everything was still.

It was as if nothing had happened at all. My breaths were heavy and labored, Voldemort's free hand held mine, and the room was quiet as it had been before. No more cries. No more pain.

"Narcissa?"

She slowly rose. The infant in her arms was not pink, it was pale. It did not wail, it was silent. It did not squirm, it was still. Tears glistened in Narcissa's eyes.

"I knew- I should have-" she cut off, unable to form a coherent sentence. Lucius stared blankly at the small figure in her arms.

"Give me," I said. My voice was dry as my tongue. It felt like sandpaper. My heart throbbed.

He was a doll. A perfect, fragile doll. His large eyes were closed gently, lined by thick lashes, his dark hair was shiny and straight, his mouth narrow, but lips full, his skin white and smooth as china. Just like a doll. And as lifelike as he appeared, he was without any.

"My son," I whispered. The room was horribly silent, and I almost wished Proserpine would cry again.

As if it was a dream, his tiny body lurched and he coughed, color flooding his cheeks immediately. His eyes opened sleepily, revealing beautiful sky-blue irises with a large pupil centered in each. He did not cry, but he yawned and sighed contently.

As he came to life, so did I. My heart beat once more; I breathed again.

"He's alive," I said breathlessly, despite how obvious my statement was.

"Thank Merlin," cried Cissy.

"I have a son. We have a son. Gemini," Voldemort said, immediately looking at me ashamedly.

"Don't give me that. I _told_ you I liked it. His name is Gemini. What I'm concerned about is his middle name. I want it to sound like your first." I stoked Gemini's cheek, small tears trickling down my own from pure relief and gratefulness.

"Bellatrix," he said slowly, "I appreciate the effort, but _nothing sounds like Voldemort_."

"Valdemar. It goes nicely, too," I said defiantly.

"Dark Prince Gemini Valdemar? It flows. What I want to know is why all your children have weird-ass names that sound awesome anyways," commented Narcissa wittily, despite the fact that her eyes were shamelessly glued to Gemini's face.

I ignored her as the young boy touched my hand; the contact melted my heart.

"Please."

Voldemort sat on the edge of the bed, not giving an answer to my request right away. "It sounds nice," he admitted. His eyes flickered across his son's face. "Okay. Gemini Valdemar."

I kissed Voldemort briefly before kissing our son on his forehead. He blinked and yawned once more.

"Give me Proserpina. I can see you want to hold your son," I said to Voldemort, who was furtively glancing at the newborn boy.

We switched, and I let Proserpina feed as Voldemort took Gemini into his own arms.

Gemini sighed right away, and opened his doe-like eyes once more. As soon as their eyes met, both father and son smiled ever so slightly.

Seeing that smirk that was so familiar to me on my little boy's face, only one thought came to my mind.

_Merlin save me. He's going to be just like his father._

**Stop freaking out. Gemini is alive and healthy. Sorry for all the DRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. XD**

**Proserpina and Gemini. Anyone think they're going to be endless trouble...? :D**

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review! I've got a few more chapters coming up!**

**End of the series? Nah. We have at least five more installments after this one... :p Totally not joking...**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm not dead and I've not forgotten about you! I will be continuing! I had horrible writer's block and I've been really busy and I'm really sorry!**

"Aunt Bellatrix?" I heard Draco's voice from outside, and at that moment, Lilith ran into the room. "Mommy!" she squealed gleefully in a drawn-out tone, and she jumped up onto the bed, squeezing my nearest arm.

Draco's head peeked in. "Sorry about that; I couldn't get her to stay with me. Is it all right to come in?"

"Of course." Draco hesitated at my weary voice, but when he saw that my eyes were light and happy, he followed his goddaughter into the room.

"Now, Lilith," I said carefully, "Was it a brother or a sister that you wanted?"

"Both!" she squealed, arms stretched almost as wide as her grin.

"Well, you're a lucky girl, because you have both a new baby brother and sister." Lilith clearly couldn't contain her glee; she began to bounce up and down excitedly and demanded to see them immediately.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Just a minute, Lilith, Aunt Cissy just has to make sure they're completely healthy and everything, okay?"

Lilith nodded, but her energy was still high. She thought I didn't know she was still bouncing, but her ebony curls were still moving up and down.

Not a minute later, Lucius came into the room with Proserpina in his arms. Lilith immediately squealed with delight; she completely forgot about her attempt to look calm, and she bounced full force again, shaking the bed.

I took my new baby girl, and gave a stern look to my older daughter. "Lilith... you're going to have to be still if you want to hold her."

This time, all her movement stopped; she wanted to hold her little sister more than anything else in the world.

Draco came over and helped move her arms into the right position, and I carefully put Proserpina into her sister's arms, showing her how to support the baby's head.

"Her name is Proserpina. Proserpina Linnae."

"Perspina Linna."

"Close enough."

Lilith's eyes lit up; she looked at her sister "Perspina" with sheer love. It was a bit overwhelming. I knew right away that I'd been selfish to not give her the siblings she wanted. Lilith had never looked so happy in her entire life.

"Momma, where is my brudda?" Lilith questioned, eyes still glued to the pink baby in her arms. Her grin was wide, and Proserpina was clearly trying to copy it, revealing pink, empty gums.

"Your Aunt will be done with him soon. You're going to have to be very careful with him; he's very frail."

"Is he okay?" For the first time, Lilith pulled her eyes away from Proserpina to look up at me, brow slightly furrowed in concern.

"We hope. He looks okay now, but for a little while, we didn't think he would make it."

"He is gonna die?" Lilith's lip trembled.

"No, baby," I said, putting my arms around her. We didn't think he was alive when he was born, but he woke up. Aunt Cissy is going to make sure he's okay."

"You promise."

I hesitated, hoping that it was one I could keep. Nevertheless, I responded, "Promise," firmly. How could I be sure, though? As much as I wanted to be positive, I'd seen Gemini without life. There were no guarantees that it would be the last time.

"Promise," came another voice. It was Narcissa, Voldemort standing behind her, proudly holding a healthy son. "No problems whatsoever, Bellatrix. He was a little bit slow to wake up, but he's just fine now."

"Whoah!" I yelled suddenly. Proserpina started, but did not cry, Lilith looked up, and Voldemort and Narcissa froze, concern in their eyes.

"Bellatrix?" asked Draco unsurely.

"Look," I said, "Does he have Metamorphagus powers?" Gemini's eyes, blue just minutes ago when I saw him, had turned dark brown.

Narcissa laughed. "Not really. Or, I should say, not very much. He has some of the power in his blood, but only enough to change his eyes more quickly to their natural color, as well as grow in his teeth and hair." Sure enough, Gemini's hair was thicker and darker, and when he opened his mouth to yawn, his gums were slightly red and bumpy.

I took Proserpina from Lilith, and Voldemort handed Gemini to his eldest daughter. "Be careful with him," he said softly.

"His name is Gemini Valdemar." My voice was also quiet; there was something special in the way that Lilith held her newborn brother. She was so gentle and careful with him; even though Narcissa assured us that he was perfectly healthy, Lilith cradled him like he could break.

I said softly to Voldemort on the side, "She loves them so much."

He nodded. "I know. Me too," he admitted, stroking Proserpina's black locks tenderly. "We're going to have to talk about this soon."

"Talk about what?"

"Children. Siblings."

"Oh. I thought you said that discussion was final."

"We need to talk," he pressed, "Together. We've both had some time to think, and..."

"Do you want differently now?" I looked over at Lilith, cooing at Gemini happily.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "We will _talk_. Later." Even though his voice was stern, he put a hand softly on my shoulder, and I had to agree: there was a place and time for that, and it wasn't now.

**Sooooooo once I finally came up with words, my Doc Manager didn't work... so once again, I'm very sorry for the wait! I will try to get the updates back up to speed.**

**If by any chance, you're still reading this, it would be amazing of you to review! I'll relax a bit on my 10-review rule, since I haven't exactly been fair with updates, but they would still be appreciated greatly!**

**Thanks so much for all the concern and patience. I promise to be more diligent in the future.**

**Sorry again for the huge delay and any worry I may have caused you!**

**Thanks so much again for sticking with me, guys,**

**Love, DPN**


	17. Chapter 17

**I was amazed at all the reviews I received! Thanks so much! You guys are truly my most loyal readers! :D**

After some time, once Narcissa had checked over Gemini and Proserpina multiple times, the Malfoy's had headed home, and Lilith's excitement wore her out to the point where she fell asleep, I put the twins in their cribs. Proserpina was fast asleep, her dark eyelashes fluttering softly as her tiny chest rose and fell, but Gemini, who had been slow to wake, was also slow to sleep. I looked down at him, occasionally letting out a little snort of laughter as his tired eyes looked up at me stubbornly. _You can't make me_, he seemed to be saying, and his attitude reminded me strongly of Voldemort.

The were both such little angels, ironic, as they were prince and princess of what was considered "The Dark Side" But they both looked so sweet and peaceful, even Gemini with the grumpy look on his face.

"Don't look at me like that," I ordered softly, although it felt rather silly to do so, as he couldn't understand me yet. "I'm your mother, and if you're going to be giving me that look all your life, you're going to be constantly reminded how I carried you around for nine months and kept two hours of labor secret so I could get the information necessary to protect your hide."

The boy had almost a smug expression on his face, an expression I frowned at, yet was entertained by simultaneously. "You're going to be trouble," I murmured, and at the same time, I was looking forwards to it.

Two hands placed themselves on my waist, and I let out an audible gasp, eliciting a small chuckle from the figure behind me. I spun around, and smacked Voldemort playfully on the arm.

"Don't do that! You startled me! Besides, it makes me feel self-conscious about all the baby weight that you _know_ will take a few weeks to lose."

He raised an eyebrow, lips curled slightly. "I don't see any baby weight."

"Don't flatter me," I responded drily, and began to hum, pretending to tune him out.

"It's true," he protested. I looked over my shoulder.

"All I see is an irresistibly beautiful woman..." My smile betrayed me after a few moments, and I allowed him to enfold me in his embrace.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here to watch him, and let you sit down?" he asked, with his lips to my head, voice muffled by my thick curly hair that was still tangled and clumped from my earlier efforts. "You must be exhausted."

"No, I'm fine. It's nice to get the circulation going again." I glanced at the crib, surprised to find that Gemini had finally fallen asleep in that short amount of time. "Besides, look who's finally out like a light."

"Good. Bellatrix, there's something we need to discuss."

"What?" I asked, but I knew what, and he gave me a meaningful glance. My stomach churned.

I looked aside ashamedly. "I...It was just an idea, I know you don't want... I mean... It was months ago we even talked about it and I know you-"

"You don't know-"

"I do!" I cried. "I do know! I'm sorry I ever brought it up the first time! I know I never really wanted to... to... I just...the idea struck me and I found I really wouldn't mind hav-"

"Bellatrix." His voice this time was stern, along with the look he gave me.

"Sorry," I breathed, embarrassed at getting carried away. I turned around, hiding my face from him. The topic of children was sensitive in our household.

"You can't possibly know what I want. Like you said, it was months ago."

"But I know you never wanted more children; neither did I."

"What if I do?"

My eyes darted up. "What?" I barely dared to speak. Did he really just suggest what I thought he did? I thought he was mocking me, but his face showed sincerity and truth. I could hardly believe my own ears.

He came closer, cupping my face in his cool hands and staring intensely into my eyes. "Bellatrix, how do you know?"

"I- I suppose I couldn't, but..." I dared to ask the question, "Do... do you?"

"It's complicated. You know I care deeply for Lilith, and the same goes for Proserpina... but... I didn't realize it until I thought Gemini was stillborn. The thought of losing him before he was ours, I'll admit... it upset me.

"We're not young," he warned. "We're not exactly old either, but we're not young. That's why, we're not going to try, okay?"

I was a little shocked but mostly confused. "I don't understand..."

"As many as we get, that's what we get. No fertility treatments, no spells, no breeding like we're rabbits. We only have a few years left, so we couldn't possibly have more than we've already proven we can handle-"

I nearly knocked him over with the huge hug I gave him.

"I love them so much. I'm always so afraid; I feel like the prophecy controls our whole lives. I just want what's best for you. For Lilith, Proserpina. For Gemini. For... for all of them. I love you all so much."

"I know," Voldemort, staring out the window into the light of the full moon.

"I... love you too," he said. "All of you."

**I do realize that both this chapter and the last were short. Don't worry, the next one will have plenty of goodies! ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the patience! This chapter is long, and I didn't know where to end it right, so it pretty much goes on forever. Therefore, it _took_ forever.**

**Please review. Since we're back on a semi-normal schedule, I am going to start enforcing the ten-review rule again!**

My children were adorable. Fucking adorable.

Which is why we were heading out to show them off, of course. Not that the Malfoy family hadn't ever seen them before, but it was always fun to brag. Not only did I have a beautiful little princess-Lilith-from my first pregnancy, I had _two_ little darlings from the second, and I was mighty proud of myself. Of course, I gave credit where credit was due; I fully recognized that Voldemort played as big of a part bringing them into the world.

Er... almost.

The "dangerous duo" as I liked to call them were a whopping 1 month old already, well on their way to two, which of course meant that my sweet little Lilith was almost two _years_ old.

But my only purpose wasn't to let my family swoon over Proserpina and Gemini; I had a much more important, nerve-wracking reason.

Today was the day that the prophecy was supposed to go into effect.

Maybe it made more sense to be at home when Lilith's fear of magic left her, after all, it would be a calmer environment which was likely to inspire such a thing. But for some odd reason, I had the strongest urge to be at Cissy's house for this day of ultimate importance. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I did consider the fact that Lilith might be happiest around more of the people she loved.

Voldemort had little opinion on the matter, swaying slightly towards staying home, but not really having much to say about it. It seemed that his main concern was me; I was flattered of course, but a little surprised too - then again, he seemed to still be trying to make up for the Umbridge incident, even though I understood his reasons for being upset. I knew that my ending the inquisition early was completely forgiven by Voldemort - it had been from the instant he realized I was in labor - but I still felt slightly guilty, wondering why I hadn't just been able to hold out for a few minutes longer. Any question could have provided the answer to all our problems. At least we had Mad-Eye's eye. We were extremely fortunate to have so much power literally in our hands.

Voldemort did push, however, when I began to feel slightly ill. I should have appreciated the concern, but I found myself more annoyed; we needed to look out for Lilith, and a little bit of nausea wasn't going to stop me. His second concern was that I might be pregnant again. I was humored by his suggestion; stuffy noses and a bit of a cough were rarely symptoms of pregnancy, and I hadn't even started to menstruate again. I declined to waste pregnancy test potion, something that Voldemort continued to pester me over throughout the day. I smartly reassured him that I had just gotten my figure back; I wasn't about to regain all the weight I just lost so recently.

And so, to the Malfoy's house we went. Lilith was dressed in a cute little sundress and it billowed as she skipped up the walkway, cooing at the albino peacocks that Voldemort and I scoffed at in unison, Gemini quietly observing the unfamiliar surroundings in my arms and Proserpina babbling incoherently in an excited tone.

It had taken a bit longer to get there than expected- the compromise had been that if we went to the Malfoy's home we would not Apparate in the unlikely chance that I was pregnant (_Just in case_, Voldemort insisted) - but the travel by air (on an illegal magic carpet) had gotten us to the mansion nonetheless, and soon we were inside the lovely home.

It took me almost a minute to realize that there was someone unfamiliar there, someone I was quite certain I had never seen before. I looked at Narcissa uncertainly after the stranger remained unintroduced.

"Draco," my sister scolded, "Are you going to just let our guests wonder who your friend is? Where are your manners?"

Draco blushed a furious shade of red and looked ashamedly at the girl; she smiled reassuringly at him with bright eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled, glancing at the ground, and it struck me how flustered he was from one measly mistake. "This is my girlfriend," he said. Narcissa cleared her throat impatiently. "Her name's Astoria," he finished quickly, the blush returning to his cheeks.

_She's more than a girlfriend,_ Narcissa mouthed to us, and pointed towards the lower part of Draco's body. At first I was confused, but then I spotted a squarish bulge in the pocket of my nephew's pants. A jewelry box. Most likely holding a ring. A ring with diamonds, judging by the excited expression on my sister's face.

The young woman gracefully stood and finished for him. "Astoria Greengrass," she informed us. "Pleasure to meet you, my Lord and Lady." She curtsied as deep as her cute tiny dress would allow, and seemed surprised when a flood of inexplicable compassion for her compelled me to offer my hand to shake, an action that Voldemort mimicked.

"An honor," she added, as if merely shaking our hands deserved some special recognition. "Princess," she said with a slight smile to Lilith, giving the same little plié and dip of the head that she had extended to us. Lilith giggled with uncontrollable mirth.

I couldn't help a bit of laughter that escaped from my own lips. "There are two princesses now, so it might get a bit confusing to call her that. You can just call her by her first name, or even 'Lils.' And the titles are a bit formal for someone so close to Draco. I go by 'Aunt Bellatrix,' 'Auntie,' 'Bella,' whatever works, and Draco usually addresses my husband by just 'Uncle' or 'Sir.' And the twins are just Proserpina and Gemini."

For once, Astoria, soon to be my niece I supposed, lost a bit of her composure and a faint blush crept into her cheeks as well as Draco's. She seemingly had nothing else to say, and I did my best to downplay the awkward moment by putting the twins - in their broom-seats - down on the floor next to Lilith so she could croon at them as she was fond of doing.

Astoria was pretty, _extremely_ pretty, and it reminded me of the sort of dainty prettiness that I had always been jealous of Cissy for. She had smooth, vibrant skin - a saturated tone that contrasted greatly with all the pale people in the Malfoy estate - but it was still light, pinkish, and dotted lightly with freckles. She had full, red lips, though a narrow mouth, and her eyes were large, heavily-lidded much like my own, and light blue - almost periwinkle. Her hair was very long. It was shiny with a gentle wave and a golden orange color, like a sunset. Draco seemed to not be able to stop staring at the girl, something I found incredibly amusing.

She was very intelligent, I immediately noticed, and I quickly discovered that although she was quiet, Draco's soon-to-be fiancé was not shy. She was talkative and personable, not to mention that she had a wonderful sense of humor, and a somewhat immature one at that; some of her more suggestive comments that sent me into fits of laughter turned Draco's face bright red yet again.

It was clear she _adored_ him, and I had no doubt that whenever he popped the question she would immediately accept. Draco absolutely worshipped her without much subtlety, and she glowed with the attention she gave him.

She was eager to prove herself and to impress Voldemort and me. When Gemini started to cry, she immediately volunteered to be the one to get him. As she walked through the sunlight shone through the glass of the front door, the wooden outside wide open to let in the light, Draco blatantly stared as her hair shimmered.

She froze before she got to the young baby. All of the sudden, a thick black smoke seeped under the door and crept towards her. She stopped moving completely, considering the mysterious substance approaching her.

It was an instinct to run and grab my children. Gemini, still having an unusual crying fit which worried me, was scooped first into my arms, and Proserpina soon followed. Voldemort took Lilith's hand and pulled her aside and the two of us took our children to the far side of the room.

Astoria was still paralyzed, strangely transfixed by the smoke that began to engulf her. Draco was on his feet but had not moved forward; nobody had because nobody knew what to do.

The thick swirling blackness made her cough, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. As the last of the smoke vanished though, she seemed to have trouble breathing. Draco ran forward and caught her right as she collapsed.

After a few moments, her breath began to improve, although she had passed out, and Draco tried to revive her to no avail. We would have tried to help, but at that moment we had problems of our own.

They burst in suddenly, five men in all, Aurors, judging by the Ministry robes. Narcissa screamed loudly, and I couldn't help a shout from escaping my own lips as my first instinct was to protect my children.

"Lilith!" I cried, and my eldest daughter ran to me, already sobbing. I took my three kids into the back of the room - as far away as I could take them without the Aurors noticing my absence. I hid Proserpina - still in her seat - behind a potted plant, and instructed Lilith to take Gemini to the crib that was unfortunately located in the other back corner. She took him carefully, concern for her brother the only thing preventing her from bursting into tears once more. I would have followed her with Proserpina, but there was no time; with Astoria unconscious and Draco preoccupied by her poor state, my three other family members needed all the help they could get from me.

I launched myself into the fray with a snarl. How dare these men attack us in one of our own homes? How could they possibly be so underhanded? Even Voldemort and I, considered Dark Wizards, would never stoop so low as to attack without any honor.

And that's when I noticed something was off. Only two of the men were wearing Ministry robes, and of the others one looked as though he had barely had time to throw his clothes on. This wasn't betrayal or revolt; the attack on us had been spontaneous. Unplanned.

The man I was fighting with (Narcissa and Lucius each confronted one, Voldemort had the other two - with occasional help from Draco from the side) threw a rapid succession of curses at me which I barely missed. I dodged each one, except the last, which came too quickly to run from. I shot back at the man, catching that last rapid spell. The two curses pinged together and ricocheted off each other, each hitting a different part of the ceiling.

I finally realized what this as I noticed the odd fury he held - as if he had personally been the victim of some great injustice. Spotting a crumpled paper in his left fist, and another slip of pink paper sticking out from the pocket of another Auror, I knew this had to do with Umbridge. These were her loyal followers. This was not an uprising; it was revenge.

Maybe it was that I hadn't quite gotten back up to tip-top shape yet, but somehow I was the _first_ to go down. A blue jet came out of nowhere and sliced through my leg, so quickly that I barely felt the pain, and that was it for me. Even Narcissa, frail little _Narcissa_ was still on her feet, although sweaty and flushed. Thankfully, Draco took my place quickly, as Astoria was now awake, though ashen. It had been clear that she would not be able to fight, and Draco had assured her safety by bringing her into another room, where I assumed she continued to cough and shake.

I took advantage of Draco's rescue to examine my leg. It was bad, really bad. The curse had not severed it completely, but one side of the limb was sliced all the way through, even the bone. I had no fear of losing it - I had seen Narcissa fix worse - but the bleeding worried me, so I at least stitched up the skin on the surface, and dragged myself slowly under the shelter of a table to shoot from there. It took almost a full minute to crawl under, and the table was only two feet from where I had fallen. I groaned at the intense pain that had now begun. I wouldn't be walking again until Narcissa fixed it.

It seemed that wouldn't be any time soon. I looked up just in time to see her take a Stunner to the head; it knocked her right out cold. However, the other side had taken some hits as well. Lucius had his rival almost finished, and Voldemort and Draco had taken down two together - dead and dead. Perhaps my feelings were a bit out of place, but my heart went out to my sister and brother-in-law as I saw the damage done to the room. Of course it could be easily fixed, but I couldn't help but frown at the cracks spread across the ceiling.

I took a moment to look over at my children. Lilith was nowhere to be seen, hiding as she had been instructed to do in any attack. I was proud. _What a good, smart girl,_ I thought. Proserpina was not frightened, but looking around excitedly at the bright flashes and noises, not quite understanding what was happening. Gemini was fearful of the events that took place, though. He screamed and cried, somehow knowing that something dangerous was going on and the people who cared for him were being hurt.

Being hurt they were. A stray spell took out three legs of the table I was under, and the heavy wooden furniture crashed down on me. I moaned in pain, spikes of wood embedding themselves in my back and shoulders. My wand arm was caught underneath, and despite the pain, I struggled to pull it out.

Both Malfoy men were thankfully alive, but out of the fight. Draco was bleeding from his forehead, and the blow that had caused it had seemingly knocked him out. Lucius was twitching on the ground, spasms running through his arms and legs from the curse that took over control of his limbs. However, they had managed to take down one more man, most likely to bleed out from multiple lacerations that left him pale and unresponsive. Voldemort was fighting two men alone, and although his injuries were minimal, the Aurors' rage kept them powerful. I finally pried my arm from under the table that crushed me, and through a few spells in the direction of our enemies, but my arm was damaged and my aim was bad. I was quickly disarmed.

"_Stupify!_" cried an Auror.

"_Duro!_" came Voldemort's response, and the red jet turned to stone. The pebbles pelted the walls._  
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"_Crucio!_" shouted the other, and Voldemort easily stepped out of the path of poorly aimed curse. It hit the ceiling a few feet behind him.

"_Rivus ignus!_" A stream of fire shot towards Voldemort. He blocked it with a blast of water, a silent casting of _Auguamenti Totalus._

Voldemort took his own offensive shot, _Serpensortia Maximum_. The snakes did a good job of pushing the Aurors back, but the two men vanished them quickly, even as they were pelted by a quick chain of Stunners, Stinging Jinxes, and other minor curses. Voldemort had no time to give the fatal _Avada Kedavra_ to either man.

Both Aurors shot at Voldemort at the same time. Right on time, he blocked it, but the curses hit each other and then the plaster above.

There was a sickening crack. I looked up, and watched in horror as all too fast, a huge chunk of the ceiling fell, pinning my husband to the ground, throwing his wand from his hand.

We looked at each other, faces stained with blood, eyes wide and unbelieving. We... we had lost? Not just a battle, but the whole war? They were going to kill us. These two horrible men were going to kill us, and our family.

I shouted to the Malfoy's, but it was no use. Narcissa and Draco were completely out. Lucius's eyes rolled up to me, and I was scarred by the helpless look on his face. He did everything he could to try to stand up, even just grasp his wand, but it was no use. He had absolutely no control over his body. _I'm sorry_, he mouthed.

The two men laughed as Voldemort struggled, reaching desperately for the wand that was just centimeters away from his splayed fingers.

It was just so unfair. Voldemort would have won in a fair fight, even against all five enemies, as their injuries showed. He _should_ have won, and he was supposed to, but that ceiling just had to collapse.

"Who killed her?" one of the Aurors hissed. "Was it you, or is it this bitch over here I should finish first?"

"Killed who?" Voldemort played innocent, which didn't particularly work for him.

"Miss Umbridge, you dick! You killed 'er! Either you, or your little mistress over here."

Even in his vulnerable position, Voldemort managed to look peeved in a threatening matter. "_She is my wife__, not my mistress,_" he growled, and the men backed off the topic. Except now, their wands were raised to strike.

Gemini's cry broke the silence. The men looked at each other and grinned.

"We'll save you for later," one said gleefully. "We wouldn't want you to miss the most important part of your kid's life."

"Death," the other clarified with just as much sick joy.

I couldn't believe the bad luck. My children were so close to being safe. Yes, Voldemort and I were sure to be killed, but Lilith, Gemini, and Proserpina were supposed to be safe. Now they would all die; Proserpina was in plain sight from where the men now stood, on their way to kill my son, and Lilith was sure to come out to defend her siblings at any cost. She didn't stand a chance.

"Ooh, even better, a double feature." They had found my youngest daughter.

Voldemort was still straining under the plaster that pinned him to the ground. His fingers were so close to his wand. He had a chance of making it.

His nail clipped the edge of the pale wood. _Come on,_ I urged silently.

He got it.

The mass of ceiling was off him within an instant, but it was too late, seconds too late. The men were both so close to the twins, and if he saved one he couldn't save the other.

He couldn't choose. Voldemort could not save one child and condemn the other. The green light charged up on the ends of each Auror's wand.

Lilith screamed.

She had appeared out of nowhere, loud and angry, and the men both jumped back, startled, but more was to come. Lilith was an odd sight, her tiny face wrinkled in rage, hands outstretched as if pushing some invisible object. Her mouth was wide open and her piercing shriek grew louder and louder.

It became more than just sound. Her voice was more than just shrill and deafening, waves were beginning to form in the air. We could _see_ the sound that she was creating. Her hair rippled. Her hands pushed harder against the invisible wall.

Although the sound was unpleasant, it did not hurt me as much as just give me a headache, but it seemed to have a severe effect on the Aurors. Their hands were clenched over their ears as they gripped their teeth. Soon blood trickled from their ears. I stared, unbelieving as their skin began to drip off, melted away by the weapon created by Lilith's magical volume.

The muscle followed. Lilith did not stop until the organs had disappeared from the bones that clattered to the floor. She was breathing heavily and her hair was still blown by a nonexistent breeze. It was then that I noticed a bright light in her eyes that had been absent ever since the day Umbridge's agents attacked us in Diagon Alley.

Her cry had waken Narcissa and Draco, and somehow restored Lucius's control of his body. The table that I had been crushed under was laying on its side a good distance away, and as Lilith ran to me, I gasped, feeling my leg heal as soon as she made contact with my skin.

I stood. No pain.

I laughed.

I couldn't believe it. Lilith had saved us. We were all alive thanks to her, and her magic was restored. It was impossible.

Improbable.

And although I had really known it all along, I had known it for over two years, even before she was born, it was hitting me just now that Lilith - as much as I had loved her everyday despite any other thoughts - was _not_ a mistake and never had been. She was always my little surprise, but never my mistake.

The room was still charged with Lilith's power, and once all of the people were healed by her magic, the room began to restore itself as well. Only a few chips in the walls remained. Even the best of us have room for improvement, though in Lilith's case, there wasn't a lot.

I picked her up. "I love you," I cried. "I love you so much." Voldemort's face was buried in her hair and he held both of us close as I admired our daughter.

"How did you do that?" I asked, encouraging her to realize that her power had saved her and her siblings.

Her eyes went wide. "Magic," she gasped. She took a moment to consider it, and then, slowly, she twirled her hand. A flower formed, a pink rose, and she gave it to me, giggling

I looked at Voldemort, feeling so much relief, as I took her hand with my free one. Suddenly, he laughed, just because he had no proper response.

It was simply magical.

**Woot! Yay! Lilith's magic is back and everything is awesome!**

**1-3 more chapters left. Please review to get them as soon as possible. ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Last chapter of As Luck Would Have It! Stay tuned for Running out of Luck, the next story in this series!**

**Reviews pleases!**

Lilith is a genius, and possibly the most powerful child on this planet.

Having the prophecy fulfilled is a huge relief. I could never truly put into words how grateful I feel that Lilith has the power that she wants and deserves. The prophecy all makes sense now, and I feel so stupid for not realizing its meaning before. Lilith just needed that push to realize that magic, when used properly, is not harmful.

What I don't understand is how having more siblings could help Lilith, Proserpina, or Gemini. Lilith's power has already been restored, and Proserpina and Gemini are safe. So how could another child help?

I don't know, but I suppose I'll find out if I ever have another.

For once, I feel completely calm, not having to worry that Lilith will lose her power or that the twins are in danger. It's a rare feeling, to feel so safe, but it is a pleasant one.

Gemini is still doing well. For the first few months I would still worry about him; he was much smaller that his older twin and much less vocal. But he has proven to be a fighter. By now he is nearly Proserpina's size, which is a great relief.

I worry about Draco's fiancée, Astoria, though. The first day after the attack on us at Malfoy Manor, she could not speak, and she struggled to breathe. For about a week after, her voice was hoarse, she coughed a lot, and she was still out of breath. Now, three months later, she seems fine for the most part, except for the occasional rasp that sneaks into her voice. It doesn't look serious, but you can't always judge a book by its cover. That curse was meant for me, and I doubt it was meant to do good things.

I wish we had kept her in the room. We could have laid her behind the couch, or propped her up in a corner and kept guard. I just wish she had been with us, because I don't think she was reached by whatever healing magic Lilith cast.

I tried to get Lilith to do it again, but no matter how worried she was for Astoria, she just could not replicate it. The situation she had been put in before had triggered whatever she had done, and without the same threat, it seemed that she would be unable to heal her.

We will just have to wait and see, and hope that whatever was done to Astoria is not too serious. My nephew is probably the happiest he's ever been, and I don't want that to change.

I don't underestimate Lilith, though, for any inability to repeat whatever spell she cast. I certainly would not be able to do it. Even Voldemort says he frankly has no idea what she did or how she did it. Besides, Lilith is exhibiting unimaginable skill; she's casting spells more advanced than first-year Hogwarts students, all without incantations or even a wand. She can levitate objects, open and close things, turn lights on and off, move objects across the room, and transfigure small items. She does this all for her own entertainment; Voldemort and I never have to instruct her and she does it all without being under pressure.

Voldemort _does_ want to instruct her, though. He wants to start training her in the Dark Arts, and I'm pretty sure that if he has it his way, Proserpina and Gemini will be using _Avada Kedavra_ as soon as they can stand. Surprisingly, I am firmly against it. I really don't want to have my kids learning such advanced, dangerous magic before they learn the basics. I'm working on Voldemort, trying to get him to see the logic. I think he's beginning to understand my point of view, if not agree with it. It's a start, at the very least.

Besides it being dangerous, I'm afraid of what affects it might have on my daughter's emotional health. She's no longer afraid of her own power, but she still has nightmares about the attacks on our family, especially the more recent one.

It's become an unfortunate routine to wake up around two or three in the morning to, "Mooooommy. Mommy help."

Sighing, I walk into her room and pick her up. Sometimes she's crying. Sometimes, she's not.

"What is it Lilith?" I always ask, even though I always know what the answer will be.

"Nightmare."

"About what?"

"Those scary men... they tried to kill Gem and 'Serpina and then they were running towards me..."

Usually I'll just hold her, but this night I decided to try something different.

"How did it end?"

"Huh?" she questioned tearfully.

"How did the dream end?" I encouraged softly.

"Like that. They were running."

"But you know how it really ended."

She paused. "They died. Because I made them melt."

"Mmm hmmm. You don't need to be scared of them, Lilith. You stopped them from hurting you, and Gemini, and Proserpina, and Draco, and Aunt Cissy, and Uncle Lucius, and Father, and even me."

She considered it. "Yes," she agreed.

"Look at me," I instructed. "There will always be bad people doing bad things to good people. But you're stronger than them Lilith. As long as you're willing to fight back, they can't ever hurt you. You just have to trust yourself and your magic."

She grabbed her toe and stared at it thoughtfully. "Sing," she instructed.

I did, softly, in a not-so-musical voice, but my songs of pureblooded-greatness, and Slytherin pride, and upholding honor seemed to soothe her.

As usual, she fell asleep before I finished the first verse, but I continued onto the refrain.

_"And when there's nowhere to turn,_

_Nowhere to hide,_

_Brandish your wand,_

_Hold your head up with pride._

_Fight to the end,_

_Even if you won't win._

_There's really no way to lose,_

_For you are a Slytherin."_

__I realized it was true. There would always be ignorant people trying to tear us down, but without power and strength, we would overcome them.

We already have.

Our enemies can keep on coming for all I care. As luck would have it, we're doing pretty well to fight them.

For now...

**DAAYUUUUMN. I did it again.**

**So that was the last chapter. For nowwww *evil grin***

**Keep an eye out for the next installment of this series, Running out of Luck! If you want to see a summary and what-not, visit my profile page.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I WON'T START THE NEXT STORY UNTIL THIS ONE GETS TEN MOOOOAAAARRRR! **


	20. Author's Note:  Info about my new story!

**Hey everybody! Just here to let you know that the first chapter of "Running Out Of Luck" is up, just in case you aren't subscribed to me! :)**

**Just a warning, I've had this whole series planned out for a while now, but I haven't been daring enough yet to put some of my ideas to use. You probably know by now that I'm a happy ending sort of girl, but for this one... well, it's gonna get kind of sad. I've decided to let you know that in advance so...**

**a) I don't chicken out and go back on my word**

**and**

**b) You can get your Kleenex ready!**

**This story will definitely be a lot darker and harsher than the others. Bellatrix and Voldemort have actually been very lucky so far (no pun intended), but this time around, they're going to have to deal with the harsh realities of war, and learn how dangerous their enemies are.**

**I don't want to give too much away, so I think I'll stop now! I hope you all enjoy, and you stick with me!**

**If you have any specific questions (like "exactly how sad is it?" or "is there any character death?"), feel free to email me at darkpiratenellie(at)yahoo(dot)com. I wouldn't want anyone to be upset if they're really sensitive about certain topics.**

**Love,**

**DPN**


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